Quarantined
by Skones
Summary: The PEDs wing of Seattle Grace is struck by a highly contagious disease, and Arizona and Callie are caught up in a tragedy, who survives? Lots of Callie/Arizona and angst. It gets better toward the later chapters :D FINAL CHAPTER...
1. I'm Infected

**A/N: ****My best friend and I came up with the idea for this fic and I wrote it out, it might lend itself to be a chapter story but I don't know yet. Comments/Suggestions/Reviews are always appreciated, let me know if you want me to continue this :)**

**Also, I know nothing about medicine, so if any of the symptoms and treatments are wrong try to forgive me.**

**I fixed some glaring grammatical errors and I tried to fix some of the problems with the symptoms/treatments. I know the medicine is not all correct, but next chapter i'll do more research.**

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Quarantined **

Arizona shifted uncomfortably as she scanned the patient's chart. The little boy had been brought into the ER by his father but as Arizona scrutinized his list of symptoms she was coming up blank. He had been suffering from a fever and chills for two days now and now he was complaining of a severe headache. The pediatrics' doctor at a local practice had prescribed rest and fluids, but when the boy fainted, his father had lost faith in the doctor's diagnosis and brought him to Seattle Grace.

Running her fingers tiredly through her blonde curls Arizona turned to Yang who had been assigned to her service for the day. Neither of them were particularly thrilled about the arrangement. Ever since Arizona had discovered that Christina had tried to use her to get through the merger she had been slightly frigid towards the younger doctor, but Arizona tried her best to be civil.

"Yang, can you do a physical examination?" Christina looked intensely bored but she nodded resignedly and moved closer to the boy lying still on the bed. Arizona observed silently as Yang questioned the boy unenthusiastically. She noted with amuesment that Christina continually glanced hopefully at her pager, as if willing it to beep. But as Yang leaned over to take the boy's temperature, the pager sitting on her hip beeped noisily. Abandoning the thermometer on the bedspread she glanced at the message before casting a pleading glance at Arizona.

"It's a 911 from Bailey…" Clutching the pager excitedly, she waited until Arizona gave her a curt nod and Christina dashed out of the room.

"I'm sorry about that, it's pretty hectic today." Arizona smiled wearily as the boy's father nodded. Arizona moved toward the boy to continue where Yang left off.

"So," she glanced at her chart. "Sam, how are you feeling is there any pain?"

"My arms and legs hurt, and my head..." Sam grimaced in pain as he leaned down into the pillows. His father interrupted worriedly,

"When I brought him in today, I noticed there were some bumps on his neck. Could it just be chicken pox? He was vaccinated just a couple of years ago though…" The father's voice trailed off uncertainly, but Arizona brightened. If the boy had contracted chicken pox, even if it was a severe case, he wouldn't need surgery, he would just need and fluids and bed rest. They would have to monitor him to watch for the fainting, but Arizona was hopeful that maybe she wouldn't have to cut into to this child.

"Well, let me take a look at his neck, has anyone in his school had chicken pox recently?" Arizona asked as she bent low over Sam's neck and examined the scattered bumps that dotted the boy's skin. At first glance they appeared to be chicken pox but Arizona stiffened when she saw that one near the boy's hairline had turned purplish black. Slowly she moved away from Sam who looked up at her innocently.

"Is it chicken pox?" Arizona shook her head mutely in response before grabbing the phone that rested on the wall. Dialing the chief's number slowly Arizona held the receiver to her hear holding in a breath in her anxiety.

"Dr. Robbins, What is it!" The boy's father looked worried now that he had taken in Arizona's stricken expression. The Peds surgeon held up her hand and began talking rapidly into the phone.

"Chief, call the CDC we have a case of the plague…"

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Callie drummed her fingers impatiently on the counter of the nurse's desk. She was supposed to meet Arizona ten minutes ago for lunch, and the blonde was usually very punctual. The brunette jumped slightly when Bailey dashed up to the desk and began speaking very quickly to the nurse. It wasn't like Bailey to be so flustered, it must be something urgent Callie thought. Callie tried to catch was Bailey was saying to the nurse, but when she did, she felt fear twist in her stomach.

"There's been an emergency on the Peds floor, so I need you to put out a dispatch telling ambulances we are closed to trauma today." Her voice was laced with worry, something that was rare for Bailey. She was all set to dash off again to fetch her annoying residents but Callie grabbed her arm forcefully.

"An emergency? What kind of emergency?" Bailey's face lost its urgency and she looked sympathetically at Callie. Reading the concern in Callie's eyes Bailey knew exactly whom Callie was worried about. But she tried to avoid giving Callie the news, knowing how it would affect Callie.

"There's a case of the plague that came in through the ER. Yang is quarantined by herself in one of the on call rooms, and the father and son are quarantined in their room-"

"Arizona, Bailey what about Arizona?" Callie's grip tightened on her arm,

"Torres, she…" Bailey averted her gaze from Callie's desperate expression. "She was exposed, but she... She volunteered to stay with the boy and treat him."

"She what?" Callie all but growled, but before Bailey could answer her rhetoric Callie dashed towards the elevator. Jabbing the button hastily Callie stood nervously in the elevator praying the Bailey had made a mistake. Maybe Arizona had just forgotten their lunch date, or fallen asleep in an on-call room somewhere. After the agonizing elevator ride had ended, the doors slid open and Callie gasped. The floor was completely empty, the usual bright and happy atmosphere of the Peds wing, which included renegade children dashing around at all hours was gone. In its place was a deafening silence.

Passing the nurses desk at a run, Callie rounded the corner to the hallway where Arizona usually worked. Three men in Hazmat suits stood guard outside of the doorway but the glass walls of the hospital rooms allowed Callie a glimpse of what was inside. Arizona was standing with her hand on a little boy's forehead. She was wearing a mask over her mouth, and a man who looked like the boy's father, was sitting stiffly in a chair.

"Arizona!" Callie yelled, the men looked over at her and motioned for her to turn around and get out of the hallway. Callie ignored their warnings and swiftly moved over to the glass wall. Pressing her hands against the glass she yelled Arizona's name again, this time the blonde looked up.

Arizona's blue eyes filled with fear when she saw Callie pressed against the glass and she motioned towards the phone on the wall. Callie nodded and waited for her cell phone to ring. When the shrill ring of her cell phone sounded in the empty hallway Callie quickly flipped it open and immediately started talking.

"Arizona, you need to get out of there, now!"

"Callie," Arizona's voice broke and she traced her finger lazily on the glass. "Callie you need to go, the hallway might have been infected. You need to get out of here." She looked up at Callie, silently pleading with her girlfriend. She needed to know that at least Callie was safe on the outside.

"Arizona I'm not leaving you in there alone. I know you want to help, but why can't you just get out of there, or get a Hazmat suit on."

"They're getting me one, but there's no point Callie... I've already been exposed."

She sucked in a sharp breath, Callie's head was swimming. She couldn't think straight, memories kept flashing through her mind unbidden and making tears form in her eyes. She needed it to be someone else behind that glass; anyone else could be heroic and save the little boy. But she needed Arizona with _her_, there wasn't anyone else who could replace Arizona for her. Pounding on the glass in desperation she abandoned the phone completely.

"Please, Arizona… Please!" Arizona shook her head and pressed her fingers against the glass to match Callie's. Tears pooled in her eyes as she shook her head again. Lifting the phone to her mouth again, Callie retrieved her cell phone from where she had dropped it and listened.

"Calliope there is a course of treatment. The disease is just highly contagious so I _need _you to leave."

"Arizona, that disease can be deadly in a few days. Screw the treatment, let someone else do it!" Callie begged, pounding on the glass again. She shrugged off one of the men in the Hazmat suits who had come to try to move her away from the room.

"Get me a suit then," she rounded angrily on the man who had attempted to grab her shoulders again. "Just get me a suit because I'm not leaving!" He took in the look in her eyes and nodded slowly as he released her shoulders. Arizona was standing on the other side of the glass shaking her head.

"Calliope, you need to go!"

"I'm not going, Arizona." Callie said as she searched around the empty floor for a chair. The man had returned with her Hazmat suit and he waited for her to put it on before he opened the door and handed Arizona hers. All Arizona could see of Callie was her dark brown eyes and part of her nose. Callie stared in at Arizona, her eyes brimming with concern. She flopped herself determinedly down into a plastic chair provided by the surprisingly helpful CDC workers. She continued to watch Arizona's every move as she settled herself down into the chair, ignoring the exasperated looks Arizona was shooting at her.

Arizona sighed, a small selfish part of her was glad that Callie would be there with her, less than an inch away sometimes. But a much larger part of her wanted Calliope as far away from the disease as humanly possible. She could've complained more. Maybe protested to the Hazmat guys but from the fierce look in Callie's eyes, Arizona could tell the brunette had made up her mind. Arizona turned her attention back to her patient and watched as the IV slowly dripped the medicine into his veins. She felt safer with Callie so close and she turned to Sam who was shivering in the bed.

"Hey," she murmured comfortingly, "It's all going to be okay…

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**A/N: Let me know if you want to read more :)**


	2. I Won't Leave

**A/N: I know the first chapter was a little rough but hopefully this is a little more polished. I loved getting all of your reviews last chapter, it was really amazing :)**

**This chapter is Beta'd, whoot! CalzonaMojoFan beta'd this for me, and helped with medical stuff which was awesome.**

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**Quarantined **

**Chapter Two**

Arizona's lips curved up into a small smile as she watched Callie sleep. The brunette had ignored everyone's desperate attempts to get her to return to a different floor of the hospital and she was sleeping soundly. Calliope had draped herself rather awkwardly over the tiny plastic chair as she tried to get comfortable and now she was scrunched painfully onto the seat while one of her arms drooped lazily over the chair's flimsy armrest. A cot had been put into the boy's room but Arizona had offered it to the boy's father, there was no way she could sleep tonight.

Sam's labored breathing bothered her. After receiving the medicine he had seemed to improve and he had managed to drift off into a fitful slumber. But in the quietness of the empty floor, his breathing was harsh and raspy. Fiddling aimlessly with the small plastic cup that had been used to deliver her preventitive meds, Arizona was too restless and she began to pace uneasily.

What if the boy developed a case of Septicemic Plague? When could she leave? Was Callie at risk even though she was out in the hallway? The questions bounced around in Arizona's head as she paced. She could feel worry knotting in the pit of her stomach as she assessed her health again. Fever? No, she didn't feel too warm, but the onset of the plague could be practically instant. A soft knock on the glass roused Arizona from her thoughts.

Callie stood peering in at Arizona worriedly. She had woken up and unfolded herself from the chair already feeling her back begin to ache, but she saw Arizona hadn't slept; she was pacing nervously up and down the room. When Arizona turned to face her Callie could see that fear clouded her eyes and her expression was a mixture of pain, worry and exhaustion. Tiredly Arizona motioned to the phone and Callie nodded in silent agreement.

"Arizona… How are you feeling?" Callie tone was laced with a concern that caused a small smile to ghost across Arizona's lips. She was struck by how much the brunette cared…

"I'm fine, Cal." Arizona tried to muster up her trademark grin but it didn't reach her eyes and Callie's brow furrowed with anxiety.

"What are you worried about? Are you feeling sick?"

"No, but Sam's breathing has gotten worse…" Arizona responded softly, trying not to wake up the boy and his father.

"Do you think he's becoming Septicemic?" Callie squinted through the darkness as if she could judge the boy's condition from her seat.

"I have no idea," Arizona ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "I'm a surgeon! If I can't open him up to fix him what do I do? How can I help him? I'm useless-"

"Hey." Callie interrupted Arizona's quiet but distraught monologue. "Arizona, it's because of you that that boy is even living. No other doctors would go in there, Hazmat suits or not. You're not useless, just be with him, watch him, try to comfort him if he needs it. You can't do more than you've already done, Ari you're risking your life for him." She rested her palm against the glass and Arizona leaned wearily against the spot where her girlfriend's hand should be.

"I'm just tired, I can't sleep because I worry that if I close my eyes he's going to develop some new symptom or something." Arizona sighed, "or maybe I'll wake up and have all of his symptoms."

"I can watch him if you want… I can see the monitors from here, if he wakes up I'll just page you, that would wake you up." Arizona shook her head,

"I don't think I even am capable of sleep right now, I'm exhausted but my mind is in over drive." Callie grimaced sympathetically,

"I miss you, when do you think you'll get out of there?"

"I'm right here…"

"You know what I mean," Arizona smiled adorably and Callie was relieved to see that her eyes weren't filled with apprehension anymore.

"I do know what you mean, I miss you too…" She placed her palm against Callie's through the glass for emphasis, and traced the outline of her hand tiredly. "You go back to sleep Calliope," Callie was about to protest but Arizona glared at her, silencing any further objections.

"G'night Calliope…"

"See you in the morning, try to get some sleep okay?"

"Okay…" Arizona gently placed the phone back into its holder and Callie shoved her phone back into her pocket. She watched as Arizona resumed her worried pacing but despite her unease Callie felt herself drifting back into a deep sleep.

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Arizona stretched and yawned widely. Opening one eye blearily she was momentarily confused by her surroundings, but as the previous day started to come back to her she jumped out of her makeshift bed hurriedly. Sam was still asleep and his father leaned against the wall watching him tensely. He acknowledged Arizona with a small nod before going back to watching his son.

As she read the monitors attached to his bed Arizona's heart sank, his heart rate was beginning to speed up and it was pushing the boundaries of the normal range. He was also developing a fever again Sam's temperature was already elevated to above one hundred and one degrees. Motioning to his father Arizona tried to explain the situation as best she could.

"Right now it's not looking too good, he appears to have developed secondary septicemia…" The man's face fell and a pained expression settled on his features.

"What's the treatment?"

"I'm still hopeful that we caught it early enough, but right now we need to start him on a new round of antibiotics." He crossed his arms and looked over his shoulder at Sam.

"What… what's the survival rate?" The man stuttered over the words, his voice choking, Arizona frowned.

"We caught it early enough so he still has a very good chance." She tried to be reassuring, but the mortality rate could be as high as ninety percent. As the man returned to Sam's bedside Arizona walked wearily towards the phone and dialed the Chief's office number again.

"Robbins?" The Chief asked apprehensively, "can you give me an update?"

"I'm almost certain he is septicemic, we are going to need a new round of antibiotics sent up." On the other end of the line Arizona heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Are you sure Robbins, positive?"

"His symptoms should have decreased by now, but now his temperature has risen and his heart is speeding up."

"Damn it… Okay Arizona I'll send up a new round of meds." He paused and Arizona heard him ordering an intern to fetch a new dose of medication. "Robbins?"

"Yes Chief?"

"Torres is still up there, am I right?"

"Yes, but I don't think she will leave willingly," Arizona let out a short laugh. "She's extraordinarily stubborn…"

"Tell her I'll give her the time off, just try to get yourself out of there as soon as possible."

"Yes Chief, thank you." Arizona hung up the phone and returned to her chair. She could question the boy about his symptoms when he woke up, but rest would probably help him as much as anything right now, Arizona mused.

Callie groaned, every muscle in her body hurt from sleeping in the chair and she still felt drained. She could see that the men in Hazmat suits hadn't left yet and Arizona was talking with the boy's father. Judging by his expression it was not what he hoped to be hearing. She studied the boy closely trying to discern his symptoms, as her gaze wandered up to the monitors fear clenched in her chest. Ignoring the pain in her aching limbs, Callie moved to the pane of glass and knocked fearfully. Arizona looked up and followed her girlfriend's horrified gaze. She realized that Callie would definitely be able to recognize what the stats on the monitors meant. Callie pointed to the phone on the wall and Arizona dialed Callie's cell number quickly.

"Get out!" Callie growled into the phone. "He is septicemic and from the stats on the monitors he isn't getting better." Callie's face was as close to Arizona's as she could get without mashing herself against the glass.

"Callie, I volunteered to stay, he needs a doctor. I-" She ached to leave the cramped room. The threat of disease had permeated the entire space and she didn't feel protected by her facemask, in there the atmosphere of sickness was unavoidable. Usually when things got tough she would find Calliope, her girlfriend would hug her, or bring her donuts, sometimes both. But all Callie could do for her now was watch desperately from the opposite of the glass.

"Arizona you could die! He isn't going to get better quickly anymore. You will have to be in there for days and days and I can't just sit here and watch you put yourself in danger of getting the plague! It's the freaking plague! Like the kill millions of people in Europe plague!"

"Callie I'm staying, you know I'm staying." Callie knew Arizona was speaking the truth; it wouldn't be like Arizona to abandon one of her patients. But Callie was desperate…

"I need you on this side of the glass Arizona, please, stop being a hero…"

"Calliope…" Arizona's voice was filled with concern and Callie choked on her words lapsing into shuddering sobs. Instinctively Arizona reached her arm out to touch Callie but her fingers brushed the glass and her hand dropped uselessly at her side.

Regaining control of herself Callie realized hopelessly that all she could do was sit and watch Arizona. She straightened up and settled herself back into her chair.

"I'm still not leaving."

"As much as I want you safe, I'm glad you're staying with me," Arizona admitted softly and Callie looked up at her with a sad smile.

"I'm not going anywhere," Callie raised her eyebrows daring Arizona to challenge her but the blonde just shook her head.

"I'm going to try to rest a little bit more until Sam wakes up. I have a monstrous headache." Arizona realized the implication of her words as she observed Callie's reaction. The brunette's eyes opened wide in horror and she wordlessly shut her cell phone. Retrieving her Hazmat suit from the floor, Callie stepped inside and zipped up the back.

Arizona recognized Callie's plan immediately and she banged on the glass frantically trying to keep Callie from entering the room.

"It's just a headache, I have them all the time! It's not a symptom!" Arizona cried her hands futilely hammering on the glass divider. Arizona knew she had already been exposed but Calliope hadn't, the hall was one thing, but she couldn't let Callie in the room.

Stalking past the Hazmat-clad guards at the door one of them moved to stop her but Callie brushed past him.

"I'm a doctor," she explained before entering the room. Arizona tried to reason with Callie but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Callie, leave! It's dangerous in here." She grasped Callie shoulders and tried to push her out back into the hallway but Callie broke bones for a living and she dexterously avoided Arizona's attempts to force her out of the room. Grabbing a thermometer from the table Callie made sure it was sterile before silently gesturing to Arizona.

Nervously Callie stuck the device into Arizona's ear canal. Less than three seconds passed until the device beeped, and Callie pulled it out of Arizona's ear before glancing at the number.

The thermometer slipped from between Callie's fingers and clattered to the floor.

"101.3…" Callie whispered in disbelief.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, as always reviews/comments/suggestions are loved**.


	3. I'll always want you with me

**A/N: Huge mega thanks to everyone who read and reviewed last chapter, you guys are all awesome. This chapter is longer than normal and I hope you enjoy :)**

**This entire time Callie has a Hazmat suit on, so any physical contact they have, just remember the Hazmat suit...**

**Thanks to CalzonaMojofan for beta'ing**

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**Quarantined**

**Chapter Three**

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Arizona's breath hitched in her throat and she could feel fear clawing it's way through her chest as she stared down at the numbers on the thermometer. They flashed innocently on the screen but Arizona couldn't familiarize herself with what they meant. She never got sick, she had broken her arm once but that was only because she had foolishly tried to jump off the curb on her brother's skateboard. But the plague? She looked over at Sam, he was shivering under the thick blanket she had covered him with and his breathing rasped unsteadily out of his lungs. She didn't feel like that, she felt perfectly fine, not on death's door. Her fingers shook as she pressed the reset button on the thermometer. Sticking the device in her ear again Arizona winced as the cold plastic touched her skin but as the device beeped she numbly stared down at her temperature.

"Calliope, it has to be a mistake. The thermometer's broken or something…" Desperately she banged the device against her palm and waited for the numbers to change or disappear. Anything that would prove the thermometer was indeed defective. But the numbers flashed defiantly on the screen and Arizona sighed in frustration. 101.3…

"It's not a mistake Ari," Callie said softly as Arizona prepared to re-take her temperature again. "Before you got your face mask on… You must've been exposed." Callie's voice was thick with emotion but she steadied herself. She needed to be here for Arizona, it would only make it worse for Ari if she broke down. Fighting to keep herself calm, Callie wrapped a comforting arm around Arizona's trembling shoulders. Arizona relaxed into Callie's embrace as she tried to still the panic she felt welling up inside of her. As clarity slowly returned to Arizona's racing thoughts she pulled away from Callie and shifted until there was at least a few feet of space between the pair.

"Calliope, you need to leave. I'll call the Chief and tell him to send up another round of meds for me, but as long as you're in here you are in danger." Arizona watched as Callie's eyes widened in shock. The brunette strode forward and grasped Arizona's shoulders firmly. Staring down into Arizona's eyes Callie protested,

"Don't even think for a second that I'm going to leave you here. In a few hours when you are too weak to stand, let alone monitor a patient and administer meds, what are you going to do? You need to get out of here… You need medicine and rest. This isn't something you can fight alone Arizona."

"Callie, you know I can't leave him alone in here to just wither away. All the other doctors in this hospital seem to be too afraid of some germs to help save a little boy. I'm a doctor, a pediatrics doctor, I can't just walk away from a child because he's contagious."

"You're going to be too sick to walk away from anything soon Ari! Please, I'll monitor him. I'll watch him if you would just leave and get treatment for yourself. In a few hours you'll be as sick as he is and you need the medicine. You won't be able to put an IV in your arm when you're shivering with chills or vomiting all over the needle!" Callie tried to move closer to Arizona but the blonde shifted away. "Please Ari, I need you to do this…" She begged.

"You can't stay in here Calliope." Arizona said firmly as she watched Callie crumble with anxiety. She struggled to keep the emotion off of her face as she prepared to say the words she knew would make Callie leave. Arizona knew that she was walking proof of how contagious the disease was, and she was sure Callie would willingly stay with her or help nurse Sam back to health if it meant that Arizona would have a chance at getting better. But that would mean that she was putting Callie in danger, Arizona couldn't do that, she wouldn't do that. It was a hard choice for her, between what she knew would get Callie out of the room, to safety and what she desperately wanted. Arizona needed Callie with her more than anything, she was frightened of what was going to happen to her in the next few hours and having Callie's reassuring presence with her would make it easier. Steeling herself Arizona clenched her arms tightly around her stomach and choked out the words, "I don't want you with me Callie…"

Callie recoiled and Arizona almost broke down and took it all back when she saw the pain and hurt that flashed across Callie's face. "You're just saying that… To try to get me to leave or something." But Callie didn't look at all certain and her eyes betrayed her confusion as she stared at Arizona.

"No," Arizona shut her eyes for an instant as she tried to avoid seeing Callie's confused expression change into one of betrayal. "I'm not _just_ saying anything. You don't specialize in PEDs you'll just be in the way…"

"Arizona," begged Callie frantically. "All doctors can administer a simple IV, I've worked in the ER I know what to do if he crashes or if anything goes wrong."

Callie stared at Arizona with her normally clear and focused brown eyes clouded with confusion. She had never seen Arizona, who was normally so warm and compassionate, looking this cold and detached. The blonde had a place in her heart for every patient she met and Callie had never seen Arizona's normally expressive eyes so frigid.

"I. Don't. Want. You. Here." Arizona repeated slowly and Callie felt pain course through her every inch of her body. They had been going out for almost four months, and those had been the happiest four months Callie could remember in a long time. But here Arizona was, apparently denying it all and Callie could do nothing but believe her. As much as she would have loved to deny it, maybe Arizona hadn't been as happy as she was; maybe it was just a fling to her… Stifling her growing urge to scream or cry in frustration, Callie steadied her voice and glanced up at Arizona. For a moment she thought she saw a flicker of pain in Arizona's brilliant blue eyes but whatever she had seen it was gone the instant Arizona realized Callie was looking at her.

"Fine," Callie said and she cringed when she saw that Arizona immediately relaxed. "I'm still not leaving, I can't. Just like you can't leave Sam, I won't leave you in here. But, I'll try to stay out of your way… See?" Callie grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the most remote corner of the room. "I'll stay over here, but when you faint or start showing symptoms I'm going to get you out of here."

"Calliope" Arizona's voice had softened but she still needed Callie to get out of the room. "I-"

"Arizona, just stop. You can break up with me or whatever when this is all over, but I won't leave you in here to die." Striding over to the phone Callie dialed the Chief's familiar number as Arizona helplessly looked on.

The phone barely rang once before the Chief answered, sounding anxious. "Robbins, how is the boy doing?"

"Chief, it's Torres…"

"Dr. Torres." He sounded confused, "where's Robbins?"

"We're going to need you to send up a second round of meds."

"Who caught it?" The Chief drew in a sharp breath,"was it the father? I knew we shouldn't have let him stay in there with him-"

"No sir, it was… Arizona." Callie's voice shook with fear but she continued. "And we're going to need another bed, she refuses to leave."

"Are you sure? Dr. Torres are you positive?"

"Yes sir, but she won't leave. Can you send somebody else up to monitor him?"

"She needs to leave the room, if anything it's protocol. I won't send anyone else up unless they volunteer, I can't ask anyone to put themselves into that much danger."

"Chief you can't leave the boy alone!"

"I'll see what I can do Torres, get her out of there."

"I can stay with them," at hearing this Arizona's head jerked up and she shook her head back and forth vehemently, but Callie ignored her. "She's fine right now but in a few hours... She won't leave him alone, and I don't think anything will get her to leave. It's not more dangerous for either of them, is it?"

"It wouldn't be necessarily more dangerous but it's standard procedure to separate them."

"Arizona wants to stay with Sam, if I volunteer to monitor them would that be okay?"

"I suppose, but Dr. Torres are you sure you want to put yourself in that much danger? I'm sure you now understand just how contagious this disease is..."

"Chief, it's Arizona. Wherever she goes that's where I'll be, it's just a matter of which room is safer for her."

"Okay Torres. I've sent Bailey up with the medicine and another bed will be up shortly. Just try to be as safe as you can. And try to update me often."

As Callie hung up the phone Arizona slumped against the wall and collapsed onto the floor. Coughing wracked her body and she shuddered before regaining control of herself. Callie was by her side in an instant and she supported Arizona's back while she shivered. Breathing heavily Arizona instinctively rested her head on Callie shoulder, but the brunette stiffened. When she managed to draw in a shaky breath Arizona looked up at Callie, wide-eyed.

"It can't be real, Calliope. I felt fine a few minutes ago but now…" Arizona shuddered and moved closer to her girlfriend. "I still won't leave…" She insisted weakly but Callie ignored her. "Calliope?"

"Yeah?" Her response was cold but Arizona could tell that Callie was trying hard to keep the hurt out of her voice.

"There's nothing that I can say to get you to leave, is there?"

"No. The disease is already setting in, you need someone to take care of you and Sam now. I know it's not what you want, but I can't help that." She shrugged and tried to be nonchalant but seeing Arizona so sick, so soon made her almost sick with fear. But Callie molded her expression into a smooth mask, she didn't want Arizona to see her upset or frightened.

"I didn't mean what I said to you." Arizona struggled to draw in a deep breath before continuing. "I was trying to get you to leave so you would be safe, I didn't actually mean any of the nasty things I said." Arizona twisted so she could face Callie before continuing. "It was all a lie Calliope. I want you here, more than anything."

Callie's eyes widened and a reluctant smile appeared on her lips. "Really?"

"Calliope, I'm scared, terrified." She admitted quietly and Callie tightened her arms protectively around Arizona. "I need you with me, the selfish part of me wanted to keep you with me but I can't see you get sick trying to protect me. I'm so sorry I made you think I wanted to break up with you, but I had to. It was the only way I could get you to keep yourself safe." Arizona wanted to say more, she saw how hurt Callie looked and she wanted to reassure Callie that she was just as invested in their relationship as she was, but she was suddenly exhausted and all she could manage were a few more garbled phrases before she rested her head back on Callie's shoulder.

"I'm glad, but sometimes you need to let me be here for you. No matter what it is. And Arizona… You don't have a selfish bone in your body, I don't think you're even capable of being selfish." Arizona could hear the relief in Callie's voice and she closed her eyes wearily, but happily.

"Calliope?" She mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"I have the plague so you probably shouldn't be so close to me." Callie laughed softly as she settled herself down next to Arizona.

"I have a Hazmat suit, I'm protected. Just try to relax, your medicine will be here soon and the Chief is going to send up a bed." Absentmindedly Callie ran her hand comfortingly up and down Arizona back as she listened to the sound of her girlfriend's quiet but labored breathing. Watching the monitors on the far wall, she was pleased to see that Sam's heart rate had stabilized somewhat and the faint beeping coming from the machines wasn't indicating that any new symptoms had appeared. A sharp rap on the glass pulled Callie's attention away from the rhythmic beeping of the monitors. A very short Hazmat clad figure was standing by the glass holding a new IV bag and some of the men at the door were supporting a bed between them.

Gently Callie roused Arizona and she shifted until her weight rested against the wall. Opening the door quietly Callie stepped outside to meet Bailey.

"What do you two think you are doing Torres?"

"Bailey, between you, The Chief and Arizona, I have had this conversation a least five times in the past day and a half. What is it?"

"The boy can be monitored from _outside_ the contaminated room." Somehow inside the Hazmat suit Bailey still seemed menacing. "And now Arizona went and got herself the plague." Callie frowned at Bailey's tone but she realized that this was the Nazi's way of showing concern. Bailey was worried, even if she wouldn't admit it.

"I'm staying with Arizona. If she's inside the room, then I'm inside the room." Glancing back inside at Arizona's slumped figure she hurriedly held out her hand for the meds. "Bailey I need to get back inside…"

"Be careful Torres, Mark is practically going insane downstairs with worry. Lexie's incessant babbling isn't helping," Bailey grimaced ruefully as she handed the IV bag to Callie.

"Take care of her, okay Torres?"

"I will Bailey," she motioned to the men holding the bed and they quickly maneuvered it into the room and set it up. "Tell my work husband not to worry about me…" Callie added as an afterthought before waving half-heartedly at Bailey and heading back inside.

The brunette placed her hand softly on Arizona shoulder. "Hey, Ari you can get into the bed now." Arizona struggled to raise herself into a standing position before collapsing against Callie's side.

"I can't," she mumbled wearily. "My legs won't work…"

"That's okay," Callie gently wound her arms around Arizona and lifted her off the floor. She carried Arizona and carefully laid her on the bed. The blonde mumbled her thanks as Callie pulled the blanket up around Arizona's slight frame.

"Just try to sleep. I'm going to put in your IV, so it might hurt for a second okay?" Arizona winced as the needle entered her vein but she relaxed back down into the soft pillows quickly.

"I'm so sorry Calliope," she mumbled fighting her exhaustion. "For making you stay here, and for saying those… awful things…"

"It's okay Ari, I understand why you had to do that. Just don't ever try to make me leave you again, cause you know I won't." Callie's only response was a muffled snore. She brushed a stray curl out of the blonde's eyes and took up a seat in between the two beds. Sam had lapsed back into a fitful sleep and his father was sitting tensely in a chair was he watched his son doze.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Sam managed a small smile as Callie questioned him.

"I'm feeling better, I can breathe easier now." He demonstrated by proudly taking a deep breath and Callie smiled when she heard that his lungs sounded much clearer than they had the day before.

"That's great Sam, the meds seem to be working. Is there any more pain? Headaches?"

"Only my back, and some in my arms but it's a lot better than when I first came in." He grinned widely up at Callie and glanced over at Arizona's bed. "How's Dr. Robbins?" Sam asked plaintively.

"I'll go check on her, okay?"

Arizona shifted restlessly in her sleep. She had tossed all of her blankets off and she was shivering as she dozed fretfully. She felt a pair of warm hands pull the blanket back around her shivering frame._ Calliope's here_ she thought happily as she drifted back into a deeper sleep.

"Arizona?" Reluctantly Arizona opened her eyes and came face to face with a pair of familiar warm brown eyes.

"Calliope?" She muttered blearily as she tried to push herself up on the pillows.

"Hey, Ari. I'm here… I just need you to tell me, how are you feeling? Are you in any more pain?"

"My back aches, it's feels like it's burning." Callie stiffened and glanced at the monitors. She gently ran her fingers through Arizona's hair and the blonde smiled lazily. Arizona shuddered as she felt another shiver course through her body; suddenly she was freezing. Snuggling deeper under the blanket Arizona pulled Callie closed until the brunette lay next to her on the tiny mattress. Callie wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and Arizona crushed herself as close as she could to Callie's warmth. It wasn't as comfortable as normal since Callie was encased in a Hazmat suit but Arizona didn't care; as she wormed her way deeper into Callie's arms Arizona was simply grateful to have her girlfriend there with her.

"How's Sam?" Arizona asked tiredly, her question muffled by the rough fabric of Callie's suit.

"He's doing much better now, don't worry" Callie's hand made warm circles on Arizona's back and the blonde slipped back into a peaceful slumber with her head nestled in Callie's shoulder.

Callie rested next to Arizona's shivering figure. Every so often she would tear her gaze away from Arizona's face and check on Sam. She was glad to see that he seemed to be reacting positively to the meds, maybe in a day or so he would be well enough to be moved out of isolation. But Arizona didn't seem to be improving at all. Her fever had been steadily climbing and she still shivered violently every few minutes. The blonde's face was twisted with discomfort and she tossed and turned fretfully as her fingers knotted in the blankets.

"Arizona…" Callie murmured comfortingly as she tried to calm her tremors.

"It hurts," Arizona moaned as she tried to find a comfortable position among her tangled sheets. "Everything _aches _Callie…"

"I know, I'm sorry but I can't give you anything for the pain. It could lessen the effect of the antibiotics we're already giving you." Arizona nodded slowly and buried her head in the pillow. Suddenly all the monitors exploded into sound and Callie jumped out of the bed frantically. She looked first to Arizona's monitors and realized with surprise that they were silent and Arizona was sitting up against the pillows staring at Sam.

"Dr. Torres! Dr. Torres what happening?" Rushing over to Sam's bed Callie watched in horror as Sam's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed.

"Callie his heart rate is elevated, you need to get the paddles!" Arizona shouted hoarsely as she struggled to get out of bed.

"There are none in here…" She searched around the empty room for a crash cart and pushed the button on the wall over and over again. Nobody answered as Callie hammered on the button. The floor had been emptied because of the disease outbreak, so no nurses or interns were present to bring the cart.

"Arizona, where are the paddles kept on this floor?"

"By the nurses desk. Hurry Calliope!" Arizona yelled over the beeping as Callie dashed out of the room. "We have to keep him alive…"

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**Reviews/Comments/Suggestions are loved :D They make me write faster, (hint hint) :)**


	4. It's harder

**A/N: Sorry this update is shorter and it took so long... I have been super busy but now it's all over and i'll try to get chapter five up on friday or saturday.**

**A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed/read last chapter you guys are awesome :)**

**I'm going to send this to my beta, but I wanted to get it up here so i'll update it sometime on thursday... Enjoy**

**December 14th UPDATE: I've decided to try to write longer/more in depth chapters so they may take longer to update but they're worth it :)**

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**Quarantined**

**Chapter four**

"Sam! Dr. Robbins, where did Dr. Torres go? What's happening to Sam?" Sam's father clutched his son's hand as he stared desperately at Arizona, hunting for an answer. Arizona hated to see the families of her patients when they looked so helpless. She joined the PEDs program so she could give children back their lives, not see them ripped away forever. Each time she had to see the haunted faces of her patient's parents her heart broke a little.

"Dr. Torres went to get a crash cart… He needs it so she can slow his heart rate down." Her explanation came out jumbled and the words left her lips sounding hoarse and unfamiliar. "She should be back really soon…" He was staring down at his son's face anxiously as the boy's small frame shook violently. Through the glass walls Arizona watched for Callie growing more and more frantic as the brunette didn't appear. Suddenly the monitor's incessant beeping stopped and was replaced with one long harsh note as Sam's heart stopped completely.

"No! Sam No!" Arizona shouted, he couldn't die, not now. Untangling herself from the mess of blankets and sheets Arizona braced her shivering body against the bedpost and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The cool tile beneath her feverish skin caused Arizona to wince and unsteadily she began to rest more and more weight on her legs, still holding on firmly to the bedpost. _Maybe I can start compressions,_ Arizona thought frantically._ Until Callie get's back I could keep his heart pumping. _

Relinquishing her hold on the pole, she tried to take a step foreword but as her fingers slipped off the smooth plastic, a chill swept though her body and her legs gave way beneath her. Arizona collapsed onto the tile floor and sluggishly realized that she was immobile, she couldn't stand let alone cross the room to Sam's bed. As her cheek rested against the floor Arizona fought to keep her eyes open and her thoughts coherent but as hard as she tried, her vision tunneled and everything went black.

* * *

Callie dashed around the side of the nurses' desk searching for the familiar cart. Silently cursing the fact that doctors never had to get the cart for themselves, Callie had no idea where to look.

"Crap, crap… crap!" She muttered, but as she rounded another corner the recognizable cart came into view and she heaved a sigh of relief. Grabbing the handles she hurriedly pushed the cart back to Sam's room.

Instead of the flurry of noise she had expected, she was greeted by one long harsh note. "Sam!" She exclaimed urgently as she recognized the significance of the noise, his heart had completely stopped. Callie began flicking the buttons on the panel frantically and waited for the paddles to charge.

"Dr. Torres! Tell me what's happening!" Sam's father grabbed Callie's arm but she shook him off roughly.

"Not now! I need to get his heart started again then I'll explain!" Callie eyes flashed dangerously and he backed off and sunk into a crouch against the wall. Rubbing the paddles together quickly Callie bent over Sam's chest and readied the paddles. "Charging to 250," Callie yelled forgetting the room was devoid of nurses or doctors. "Go!" When the paddles touched his small frame Sam jerked violently and then fell back against the pillows limply.

"Charging to 300," Callie yelled, again more for her benefit than necessity. "C'mon Sam," she whispered under her breath as she readied the paddles. Again Sam's body jerked but when he fell back the numbers on the monitors slipped lower. A steady beeping replaced the erratic noise and Callie breathed a sigh of relief.

Raising himself from the floor Sam's father rushed back over to his son's bedside. "Is he going to be okay? Dr. Torres please tell me he's going to be okay!"

"For now, fine…" Callie clenched her arms around her waist tightly. "I need to check over his stats more closely. I'll check with Ariz- Dr. Robbins, even though she's sick she could review his charts." He nodded slowly and touched his son's face tentatively. Brushing a stray back hair into place above Sam's forehead he turned back to Callie.

"But for now… He's safe right?" A pained expression flitted across Callie's features but she masked her doubt behind a nervous smile.

"For now… Yeah, let me go talk to Arizona about his stats. I'll update you in a bit," Turning away from Sam's bed Callie dropped the stack of papers she had gathered to show to her girlfriend.

"Arizona!" The blonde was sprawled on the floor, unmoving. Moving quickly Callie knelt beside Arizona's crumpled form. "What happened?" She cried directing her words over her shoulder toward Sam's father.

"I don't know-" he stuttered anxiously. "I was watching Sam…"

"Arizona?" Callie rested her hand on Arizona's arm and shook her gently. Arizona shifted slightly in response and a small groan escaped her lips as her eyes fluttered open.

"Sam… He was coding. The monitor stopped beeping and-" Arizona mumbled incoherently as she tried to organize the jumbled thoughts crowding her brain.

"Shhh." Callie snaked her arms around Arizona body and prepared to lift her back into bad. "Sam coded, but I found the paddles and he's fine now," she whispered reassuringly and Arizona relaxed into her arms at the news. "How did you end up on the floor?" Callie asked as she tucked the blankets back around the blonde. "You pulled your IV out, I'm going to re attach it okay?" Arizona nodded, and grit her teeth as the needle pierced her vein. Callie looked at her expectantly, "tell me what happened…"

"You had rushed out to go find the crash cart, but while you were gone his heart just stopped." Arizona shuddered at the memory. "I wanted to wait for you to get back, but I couldn't let him just die, not when he was about to get out of here. So I thought I could start compressions-" Callie's frown deepened and her eyes opened wide in disbelief, but Arizona shushed her. "He was coding Calliope, I had to try. Anyway when I tried to stand, it was like my legs couldn't support my weight anymore." Arizona relaxed wearily back into the pillows. "I'm just exhausted… all the time"

"Did you hit your head?" The brunette inquired worriedly as she checked Arizona for signs of a concussion.

"I'm fine," Arizona murmured and she toyed gently with Callie's fingers. "Really Calliope, totally fine…" She struggled to draw in a breath and for an instant Callie panicked, but the blonde forced a grin. "Super…" she rasped weakly. Gesturing to the discarded pile of papers, Arizona frowned. "What are those?"

"Oh," Callie exhaled and walked over to retrieve the messy pile. "Well I was going to show you some of Sam's charts because he should be getting better by now, not having heart attacks…" Laying the large stack on Arizona's bed she shrugged and continued. "But Ari, seriously if you need to sleep you don't have to-"

"Of course I have to Calliope," smiling tiredly Arizona began rifling through the pile of papers. "Did you ask Sam about his symptoms before he crashed?"

"Yeah, he complained of the usual muscle aches that come with the plague but other than that he looked on the mend." Remembering Sam's triumphant smile as he drew in a deep, clear breath she laughed sadly. "He was fine, totally fine…"

"They always are, at some point. With children it's always sudden."

"He was worried about you, you know before he crashed." Callie grinned up at Arizona. "Sam asked about how you were doing." To Callie's surprise Arizona didn't smile or laugh at her news, instead her blue eyes rapidly began to fill with tears and her relaxed expression slipped off her face. "Arizona! What's wrong?"

"He, h-he asked about me…" Callie nodded uncomprehendingly at Arizona's words as she quickly wrapped her arms around the blonde. "H-he might die and he was worried about how I was doing. Sam has his entire life ahead of him. He has dreams! Two days ago he told me he wants to be an astronaut, and this summer he is going to go to space camp in California. It's going to be his first time staying away from his dad and he told me that he was nervous but his best friend convinced him to go. Now he might die, and he's such a sweet kid…" Her words came out in a rush and Arizona choked. She lapsed into uncontrollable shuddering sobs against the fabric of Callie's Hazmat suit. Numbly Callie rubbed her hands up and down Arizona's back feeling extremely useless. Her patients were usually adults, and of course she was always sad when she lost a patient, but not like this. With children it was always tougher.

Jarringly the phone on the wall rang and roused everyone from their introspections. They had forgotten there was a world going on outside the room. Arizona relinquished her death grip on Callie's suit and pushed her gently toward the phone.

Callie retrieved the receiver and waited anxiously for news. "Hello, Chief?"

"Dr. Torres?"

"Yes sir…"

"There's a bit of a situation down here…"

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**Please review/comment/suggest stuff :) :)**


	5. Fading In and Out

**A/N: Wow, I know I said this update would be up over the weekend but I updated Today Was a Good Day instead because I was being lazy with that story. I'm trying to write longer more detailed chapters so they might take a little longer but I hope they're worth it. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed or read last chapter you guys are awesome :)**

**Huge thanks to CalzonaMoJoFan for Beta'ing and helping me understand the difference between heart attacks and arrhythmia's :D**

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**Quarantined **

**Chapter Five**

_Situation_. Callie stiffened at the Chief's ominous words and mentally ran through a list of her current patients. Maybe the hip replacement she had preformed on Mr. Jacobs two days previously hadn't gone as well as she had thought. Maybe the bleeder that she had repaired mid-surgery had caused a complication post-op? Then there was Olivia, a reckless eighteen year old who had sustained multiple fractures on both of her legs from crashing her motorcycle. The fun loving teen had been unapologetic and she even reminded Callie a little bit of herself when she was younger. Callie had completely forgotten about Olivia, and all of her other patients during all the madness that currently consumed her life, but someone was taking care of them… right?

"Could you please put Dr. Robbins on the phone?" The Chief requested pulling Callie from her anxious worrying. Her brown eyes widened in surprise as she contemplated his words. If it was something wrong with one of Arizona's patients downstairs, Bailey could handle it. There was no need to worry Arizona when she was so fragile.

"Why?" She asked warily, clenching the phone tightly in her hand. The Chief seemed to notice the slight shift in tone from anxious to protective.

"One of her patients has a-"

"Ask Bailey," Callie interjected angrily. Arizona worried herself sick over some of her long-term patients and the fact that she cared so much was one of the reasons Callie loved her, but right now Arizona didn't need to be preoccupied with anything else but getting better.

"Torres I-" The Chief stuttered over his words, trying to regain his authoritative tone. He was not used to being contradicted so openly by his residents, but before he could continue Callie cut him off again.

"I'm not letting you worry her, right now she needs to rest…" Callie's voice shook slightly over her next words but she steadied herself and continued. "She's not getting any better Chief, and if you want her to be able to save any more dying children she needs to survive this…" Arizona realized that she was the current topic of conversation after hearing Callie's angry words and she held out her hand weakly for the phone. Callie shook her head at Arizona's insistence and kept muttering to the Chief, consciously keeping her voice lowered this time.

"Dr. Torres! I have an entire floor emptied because of an outbreak of an extremely dangerous disease. Two of my best surgeons are trapped up there for god knows how much longer and one of them is apparently very sick. I understand your situation, but I would appreciate your cooperation. We both know that Dr. Robbins would not let one of her patients to die because of the current disaster. The fact that she is even up there in that room should prove to you that she wouldn't forgive herself if one of her patients died because she couldn't be there. You know all this Torres, do what Arizona would want!" Callie knew he was right; she didn't want Arizona to worry herself, but if the blonde finally recovered and skated back down the halls to find that one of her patients had died when she might have been able to help, Arizona would be crushed…

"I'll ask her," Callie responded stiffly. "Tell me about this _situation_, and _I_ will talk to her about it."

"Dr. Torres," he said threateningly, but this time Callie didn't crumble.

"I will ask her any question you have about her patients." Arizona immediately sat up upon realizing that the 'situation' they were talking concerned one of her patients, but even as she strained to hear Callie's muttered conversation she couldn't catch a name. "If you want to force me to worry her while she is so sick then fine, but you have to let me talk to her." The Chief reluctantly agreed to Callie's request, more because he knew that Dr. Torres wasn't the type to back down and he feared she would just hang up the phone if he continued to argue with her.

Bailey's familiar voice appeared through the phone and Callie listened intently to the other surgeon's instructions before slowly replacing the phone into its holder on the wall.

Arizona had been watching Callie the entire time and as the brunette approached her she began to bombard Callie with anxious questions.

"One of my patients is sick? Who is it? How sick are they? Do they need surgery? Because if they do then it definitely should be Bailey and no one else, she's the only one I would trust with my patients when I can't supervise…" She was bursting with a thousand more questions, but she ran out of breath and lapsed into a shuddering fit of coughing. Arizona's voice trembled weakly as she drew in a determined lungful of air, "Tell me Calliope…"

Callie slowly rubbed her hands up and down Arizona's back comfortingly as Arizona looked at her imploringly with her now red-rimmed blue eyes.

"It's Hannah, the kidney transplant patient you tell me about sometimes…" Arizona paled, which was difficult since her illness had already drained most of the color from her face.

"What about her? Calliope what happened…" Her fingers clutched at the coarse fabric of Callie's suit and the brunette tightened her grip around Arizona's shivering frame before answering.

"Her potassium levels have been dropping over the past few days, the Chief and Bailey need to know your preferred course of treatment." Arizona sucked in a sharp breath and Callie could feel her muscles tighten in worry.

"Tell him to call UNOS, she needs a new kidney right now. Her low potassium levels will get her moved to the top of the list. He needs to keep in constant contact with them at all times…" Callie brow furrowed as she committed Arizona's instructions to memory. "I should be with her for this…" Arizona added, more to herself than to Callie. "We've been waiting for this for three months and now it's going to be some unfamiliar doctor with her in the operating room instead of me…" Arizona murmured sadly.

"Don't worry Ari, it won't be some unfamiliar doctor. It's going to be Bailey, you trained her as a PEDs surgeon before she switched back to general surgery, you know how good she is."

"That's not what I'm worried about, Bailey's amazing at her job. I have total faith in her, but I have spent months with Hannah listening to her stories, and playing Go Fish with her. To Bailey she's just a patient, but to me… she's Hannah." Wearily Arizona leaned her head against Callie's chest. "That doesn't make much sense, does it?"

"It makes perfect sense, but I think you underestimate Bailey. Remember how you told me we do a thousand little things to try to care a little less about our patients?" Callie ran her fingers through Arizona's hair as the blonde nodded slowly. "Well Bailey's not like that, I've seen how she sneaks down to the PEDs wing whenever she's not busy. No matter how detached she might act I've seen Bailey care like crazy. And underneath I know she always does, you have no reason to worry, Hannah is definitely not just a patient to Bailey…"

"Thanks Calliope," Arizona snuggled closer to Callie tiredly. "I needed that. In here it just feels like I'm stuck, like all I can do is sit here and wait for things to happen to me or to Sam, to Hannah or even to you Calliope. I feel so helpless…"

"Arizona, for once in your life, right now, you need to just relax and let me take care of you…" Another wave of exhaustion swept through Arizona and she wearily nodded while burying herself under the blankets. As her eyelids fluttered shut Callie bent down close to Arizona. "Just promise me you'll wake up again, okay?"

The blonde managed a small grin and a tired nod before succumbing to the weariness that had infected her limbs. The sensation of Callie's fingers running through her hear lulled her into a peaceful slumber where her aching limbs and labored breathing wouldn't bother her anymore. As a pleasant emptiness replaced the whirling thoughts in Arizona's head she heard Callie stifle a gasp. Arizona tried; she really tried to open her eyes and break through the haze that was clouding her mind. But, she couldn't and despite her efforts all of her senses seemed to stop working and she sank into a blissful oblivion.

Callie absentmindedly ran her fingers through Arizona's blonde curls as her girlfriend drifted off to sleep curled up in her lap. Brushing some stray hairs off of Arizona's neck her fingers collided with a small bump on the nape of the blonde's neck.

Fear twisted painfully in Callie's chest and she despairingly brushed more of Arizona's hair away to discover three more blackish bumps scattered on Arizona's pale skin. Staring down at the offending dots Callie tried her hardest to convince herself that they weren't what she thought they were. She wracked her brain going back to her med school days when she had memorized endless lists of symptoms, treatments and survival rates. _The bumps are swollen lymph nodes; _Callie felt a small twinge of hope permeate her despair as she began to remember. _They don't usually appear on the neck though; it's almost always under patient's arms. So maybe… _Gently Callie lifted up Arizona's limp arm and slid her sleeve back. Under Arizona's arm two smaller black bumps appeared, contrasting violently with Arizona's light complexion.

"Ari," Callie choked as she shook her girlfriend's shoulders. Arizona didn't respond, her brilliant blue eyes remained shielded by her eyelids and she didn't even shift in her sleep to acknowledge Callie's touch. Slightly more forcefully Callie shook Arizona's small frame. "Arizona…" The blonde remained crumpled in Callie's lap, unresponsive. Lifting Arizona's head out of her lap, Callie maneuvered herself out from under Arizona and laid her gently against the pillows.

Her fingers trembled as she dialed the Chief's number and her worried gaze never left Arizona's fragile form.

"Dr. Torres? Did you ask Arizona about Hannah?" The chief greeted her hurriedly.

"I need to speak with Bailey sir," Callie said brokenly. Perhaps the Chief could hear the worry in the brunette's usually confident tone because he didn't complain, he merely handed the phone to Bailey.

"Callie? What did Arizona say about Hannah…"Bailey's no-nonsense voice distracted Callie for a brief second.

"You need to call UNOS, have them move her up on the transplant list and keep in constant contact with them."

"Okay Torres." Callie could here Bailey pause a mutter instructions to one of her residents. "How is it going up there? Is Arizona okay?"

"Her lymph nodes have started to swell up, the medicine should have prevented that by now. Bailey… S-she's not getting any better…"

"We could switch her Meds," Bailey said quietly. "But unless her fever breaks there isn't anything else we can do Callie…"

"Damn it Bailey! We're doctors we should be able to save them. Sam had a heart attack, Arizona fell asleep and she won't wake up anymore, there has to be something we can do for them…"

"That's medicine, Torres."

"It's not medicine when it's Arizona's life on the line!"

"Just be there with them, it's all you can do Dr. Torres. I need to go monitor Hannah and send in the call to UNOS but you need to be strong for them Callie, even Arizona is probably scared out of mind right now. They need you…"

"Thanks… I guess. Take good care of Hannah, for Arizona. When we get out of here she would blame herself for anything that happens to that little girl."

* * *

Most doctors live for the moments when they can hear their patient's monitors beeping steadily. The rhythmic beeping that signals a heart is beating, a fever isn't getting any higher or a patient's breathing is strong and even. She hated it. All Callie could do was sit and watch, and as a surgeon she loathed just sitting and watching. She stared as the IV slowly dripped medicine into Arizona and Sam's arms, she read the temperature blinking on the monitor screen, and she listened to their deep breaths as her patients slept fitfully.

Callie sat in the same uncomfortable plastic chair she had slept in three days ago, it felt like years had gone by since she had pounded on the glass and tried to get Arizona to leave the room. It seemed like it had been years since her thoughts hadn't been clouded with worry and fear didn't twist in chest as she listened to the rhythmic beeping, waiting for a disruption. Her eyes flicked nervously from Arizona's bed to Sam's as she assessed their conditions every few minutes.

Sam still hadn't woken up after he went into cardiac arrest, his fever had climbed a few degrees but his breathing seemed clear and even. His fever had reached 103.5 degrees, and sweat beaded on his forehead in his fitful slumber. Callie knew enough to know that his fever was breaking and he had passed safely through the worst of his affliction, but his arrhythmias bothered her. Nine year olds don't have arrhythmias unless there was an underlying cause, and arrhythmias weren't usually symptoms of the plague.

Playing idly with a thread on her Hazmat suit Callie switched her gaze to Arizona's still form. In contrast to the fidgeting form of the young boy sleeping in the bed next to her Arizona was completely still. Normally this would comfort Callie but after Arizona's restless sleep the night before something had obviously changed and Callie wasn't sure it was for the better. She watched the blinking green numbers that indicated Arizona's temperature hadn't risen from 102.9 in the last few hours, it wasn't high enough to signal that her fever was breaking but it was high enough to indicate that her condition wasn't improving.

"Dr. Torres?" A small trembling voice drew Callie's attention from Arizona and back to Sam's bed.

"Sam?" Callie lightly pushed herself out of the uncomfortable chair and moved to stand by his bedside. "How are you feeling Sam," she tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace. "You look like you're on the mend now."

"I feel a lot better, it feels like I've slept for a week."

"But Dr. Torres? His heart, was it his illness that caused the arrhythmias?"

"I had a arrhythmias?" Sam grinned with boyish delight. "Cool! What are arrhythmias?" The brunette cast a bemused look down at the boy in the bed.

"Arrhythmias are not cool. They cause your heart to not beat correctly and sometimes it will stop, yours did."

"My heart really stopped but I didn't die?" His eyes gleamed with excitement and Callie wondered at his curiosity.

"Nope, we shocked your heart so it would start beating again," Callie replied.

"That's so cool!"

"You think it's cool that your heart stopped and you could have died if I hadn't saved your life?" He nodded happily. "Boys…" Callie muttered under her breath before turning her attention back to Sam's father.

"No, I don't think it was the plague that caused his heart to stop. When you get out of here, I'll make sure we have you sent up to Cardio for an examination. It could be just his reaction to the disease, or the meds. But you should definitely check it out."

"When can we leave?" Sam asked tentatively and Callie managed a real smile this time.

"Maybe as soon as tomorrow, your fever should start to go down and as soon and as it drops to within normal range I might be able to clear you to leave. Barring any other symptoms of course." Sam looked excitedly at his father after hearing the news and Callie smiled warmly at the pair of them. "Hey, you'll still need lots of rest and recovery after an illness like this but you'll get out of this cramped room…"

"Dr. Robbins? How is she doing?" Sam asked as he turned back to Callie. He was oblivious to the pain that one question caused her. He missed the terrified expression that flitted across her face, and the fear that appeared in her eyes.

"You need to get some more rest, so you can be all ready for tomorrow." She changed the subject quickly and Sam scrutinized her in confusion for a moment before sinking down in the pillows.

"How long have I been in here?" Callie pointed to the window on the far wall. It showed a darkening Seattle skyline.

"It's the end of the third day, we've been in here for almost four days…" She pulled the cloth divider around the side of his bed, "try to get some sleep tonight okay?" As he nodded tiredly she retreated from his bedside and sank back down into the plastic chair.

* * *

Arizona was floating. She drifted in between ill-defined dreams fluidly as she slept soundly. Images would flash through her mind and be gone the minute she tried to focus in on one of them. In some of the bright splashes of color Callie's smiling face appeared, other times she thought she glimpsed the ice blue eyes of her dead brother.

Her aching limbs didn't bother her anymore and her breath rushed steadily in and out of her lungs as if she wasn't fighting for her life every second. Occasionally a loud beeping would interrupt her dreams. Once she even thought she heard Callie's familiar voice, after a flurry of beeping had almost pulled her out of her dreams she thought she might have even heard crying.

Arizona was one of those people who normally knew when they were dreaming. When she was peacefully asleep and dreaming she would always be able to tell herself 'it's okay, I'm only dreaming…' Or if tiny coffins filled her nightmares she could curl up next to Callie and let the brunette's comforting embrace chase any of her nightmares away. These dreams were different; as the night progressed they got more and more vivid. These weren't dreams she could pull herself out of, she couldn't move her arm across the bed to see if Callie was next to her. Callie's face disappeared, her brother's melancholy eyes and even the tiny coffins faded out as an endless blackness replaced them.

It was another six hours before the blackness began to burn off and she regained some sensation in her limbs. Cold hands gripped her wrists and she realized with confusion that she had been thrashing violently in her sleep. The comforting hands released her wrists and soon Arizona felt a warm blanket being draped over her body.

"Arizona…" The blond heard Callie's voice and she tried to force her eyelids open groggily. "You need to wake up, Arizona you promised…"

Her blue eyes fluttered open and immediately she squeezed them shut as light flooded the room.

"Oww…" Arizona mumbled hoarsely.

"Arizona?" At Callie's anxious voice she reluctantly opened her eyes a crack, wincing. Arizona came face to face with Callie's warm brown eyes. She was too tired to notice that Callie's usually clear brown eyes were red-rimmed, or the tear tracks that traced winding paths down her girlfriends face.

"Hey, Calliope…" Arizona grinned weakly. "How long was I out for?"

"Almost a day and a half, you scared the crap out of me!"

"Sorry," she pushed herself up against the mound of pillows behind her head. "How's Sam, has he gotten any worse?"

"H-he…" Callie stalled and Arizona twisted her head to see Sam's bed.

The sheets had been neatly folded, and pulled taunt over the bed frame. It was as if no one had ever slept there. As Arizona turned her frightened gaze back to Callie she noticed the re-rimmed eyes and the tearstains.

"Calliope, what happened? Where is he?"

* * *

**A/N: So what happened to Sam?**

**Reviews are better than christmas presents, tell me what you guys think :)**

**Reviews=faster updates**


	6. I'm So Sick

**A/N: Ugh, I have to leave super early tomorrow morning so I sent this chapter to my Beta but I probably won't post the beta'd version until tonight or even tomorrow. Sorry, but I'm going on a trip so it's complicated, but I wanted to put this up in case I couldn't get on for a while :)**

**Huge thanks people who reviewed last chapter :)**

**UPDATE 12/22: This is now Beta'd thanks to CalzonaMoJofan :)**

**I don't usually put lyrics here but while writing this chapter I owe a lot of inspiration to an endless replay list on my itunes. First among them being… (The title of this chp is also a Flyleaf song)**

**Sorrow: by Flyleaf**

_Sometimes life seems too quiet_

_Into paralyzing silence_

_Like the moonless dark_

_Meant to make me strong_

_Familiar breath of my old lies_

_Changed the color in my eyes_

_Soon he will perforate the fabric of the peaceful by-and-by_

_Sorrow lasts through this night_

_I'll take this piece of you_

_And hold for all eternity_

_For just one second, I felt whole_

_As you flew right through me  
_

_

* * *

_

_The sheets had been neatly folded, and pulled taunt over the bed frame. It was as if no one had ever slept there. As Arizona turned her frightened gaze back to Callie she noticed the re-rimmed eyes and the tearstains._

_"Calliope, what happened? Where is he?"_

She searched Callie's eyes frantically, looking for a hint of hope or reassurance. "Callie, he was discharged right? He went home, he was getting better…" Her fingers clutched at the fabric of Callie's suit and she forced her girlfriend to meet her gaze. "Tell me what happened Calliope."

* * *

_"Any eights?" Sam asked hopefully as Callie quickly scanned the cards in her hand. Triumphantly, she smirked,_

_ "Go Fish!" She said happily and watched as he frowned in annoyance as he picked up a card from the dwindling pile. Arranging his cards quickly he looked up at Callie, waiting for her next question._

_ Glancing over the remaining cards in her hand she asked, "got any fives?" Scowling he handed over the five of spades and Callie gleefully organized them into a new pair and placed the pair of cards on the cluttered bedspread._

_ "You have got to be cheating!" Sam glared at Callie suspiciously, "How can you be beating me so badly?"_

_ "I'm just awesome…" Her jubilant grin faltered slightly as her focused gaze strayed to Arizona's unresponsive form in the bed next to her. The blonde had buried herself among the pillows and blankets and all that was visible to Callie was a mop of curly blonde hair and half of Arizona's pale face. That was 'her' word, Arizona's word. It felt wrong coming from her mouth when Arizona wasn't there laughing and smiling along with her._

_ Tearing her eyes away from Arizona's crumpled form she returned to the game, "We're only playing this game 'cause you wanted to." As Sam shook his head in frustration Callie continued. "Anyway you'll be out of here in a few minutes. Just as soon as the Chief calls up to say your paperwork is finished you'll be moved to a different room downstairs."_

_ "Why do I still have to stay here longer?"_

_ "Well, you've been having some arrhythmia's, you remember what those were?" He nodded, "We just need to check those out, it probably won't take more than a day," Callie promised and held up her cards. "You want to keep playing? It's your turn…"_

_ "Any queens?" Sam asked hopefully, but as Callie searched her remaining cards she looked up at his cards scattered across the bedspread. In horror she watched as Sam fell back against the bed, his remaining cards slipping from his hands. His small form collapsed against the pillows and the monitors surrounding his bedside burst into a frenzied beeping._

_ "No, crap Sam!" Callie reached and pulled the cart closer to her, anxiously flicking the buttons, she waiting for the humming to signal that the paddles had fully charged. Her hands shook on the handles as she readied them over Sam's chest. "Charging to 250" she muttered to no one in particular. The beeps from the monitor sped up as the paddles hovered over his chest for a second; she took a quick breath and lowered the paddles to his skin. Electricity jolted through Sam's body, but as he fell against the pillows the beeping slowly returned to normal._

_ Sam's father gripped his son's hand tightly as Sam's eyes fluttered open. When Callie saw his hazel eyes open and alert she let herself relax. "This is getting ridiculous, you need to be down in Cardio right now. I'm going to go call the Chief about this…" His father nodded solemnly as the little boy glanced blearily around the room._

_

* * *

_

_ "Hey," Callie touched Arizona cheek tenderly and brushed away the few tears that had already dripped onto her cheeks. "He's fine. He's down on the cardio floor getting evaluated for his arrhythmias; but seriously, the whole plague thing, he's totally recovered."_

Arizona breathed an exhausted sigh of relief and buried her face against the fabric of Callie's Hazmat suit. The blonde felt Callie snake her arms around her waist and hold her shivering form tightly as she sobbed onto Callie's shoulder. Her girlfriend rocked her back and forth gently until her sobs resided into feverish shivers.

"S-sorry," Arizona mumbled in between her shuddering. "I'm so relieved for him, but this wasn't how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to get better and then I was supposed to be able to go back downstairs and treat my other patients, instead I probably won't get to see any of them again."

"You're going to get better Arizona." Callie locked gazes with the blonde and held her blue eyes firmly. "Soon your fever is going to break and you'll be able to skate down the PEDs halls again and aggravate Bailey with your constant perkiness. You have to believe me…" Arizona was struck by the look in Callie's eyes; the brunette's eyes weren't riddled with sadness or worry, they were clear and focused. She found some strength in Callie's caring eyes; the pure love she saw melted her fear away slowly.

"How are you feeling?" Callie asked as Arizona settled back down into the blankets, "Are you feeling any better?"

"If I said I was super, would you believe me?" She managed a weak smile and Callie smirked slightly although it didn't reach her eyes. "I feel okay," she elaborated reluctantly. "I'm not as mind-numbingly exhausted as before, but my arms and legs still ache." The brunette nodded understandingly and tightened her hold around Arizona as another shiver coursed through her body.

"Well, your temperature is up a little bit from last night, so that could mean your fever is beginning to break…" That was a stretch, they both knew it. When a fever breaks it's usually quick, not by fractions of degrees. But it was easier to cling to that half a degree as hope than wait for her temperature to shoot up when it was quite possible that it wouldn't.

"If this doesn't work-"

"Ari," Callie interrupted, but Arizona shushed her.

"If this treatment doesn't work, is there something we can try? Or…" Arizona saw Callie's features falter, and her lips twisted downward into a pained expression.

"We could switch medicines, but if your fever doesn't break the other medicine probably won't have much of an effect."

"How long?" She murmured, unable the hide the fear that was slowly returning at the serious turn of the conversation.

"I can't answer that," the brunette answered firmly. "I won't answer that. Arizona, you have as long as you are willing to fight for, and I _need _you to fight this for me, for us." She looked imploringly down at Arizona and tangled her fingers in the blonde's soft curls.

"I grew up with the name Arizona, I fight dirty…" Callie let out a reluctant laugh that banished the tears that had begun to form in the corners of her eyes.

"Even lying in a hospital bed, infected with a deadly disease, you still manage to be optimistic," Callie wondered adoringly at the smiling blonde lying tiredly in the bed. "How on earth do you do it?"

"This is going to sound cheesy," Arizona warned before lapsing into a fit of harsh coughing. After recovering her breath she exhaled slowly and continued. "I can be optimistic because I know that if something goes wrong I can go find you. You'll comfort me, cry with me, hold me for hours or eat excessive amounts of donuts with me when I'm upset. I can be optimistic because I have you to fall back on, it also helps that I'm just naturally extremely perky." She added on the ending as an afterthought, trying not to overwhelm Callie with her outpouring of emotion.

Callie wasn't overwhelmed in the slightest. She could hear the nervous undertone in Arizona's voice and Callie understood exactly how the blonde was feeling. They had each separately been wrestling with the whole problem of 'I love you…' for the past few weeks now. Neither woman knew how the other would react to hearing those words, to admitting those feelings so early in the relationship. They were absolutely positive what they had was love, they both knew they were _in_ love, but they hadn't actually voiced their feelings yet in fear of screwing up the relationship they had. The brunette had been worried that when Arizona had been quarantined she wouldn't get to tell her, but even now her nerve failed her.

"Arizona, I…" She swallowed nervously and Arizona listened intently with bated breath. "I love… that about you" Callie finished clumsily and she cringed as she saw a look of disappointment flash across Arizona's face.

"Oh really?" The blonde asked hoarsely, her tone slightly teasing but inside she felt equally cowardly. Arizona watched as Callie blushed with embarrassment and nodded.

"Yeah… So, are you sure you don't want to sleep some more?" Callie changed the subject hurriedly as both she and Arizona knew what had just happened.

"I'm not tired any more, it's more like…" She struggled to find the words to explain. "It's more like I'm weak, like even the slightest movement would tire me out or something," Arizona admitted with disgust.

The illness came in waves, it would come crashing down on Arizona one second then it would stop it's brutal assault for a time and she would seem to return to almost normal. The couple chatted aimlessly, Arizona rested weakly in Callie's arms on the bed and the brunette held her helplessly as she suffered through the worst of her illness.

After a series of violent, harsh coughs accompanied with another onset of feverish shivering passed, Arizona twisted to look up at Callie.

"Is my temperature any higher?" She inquired hopefully but Callie shook her head she pointed to the monitor.

"It's still just 102.9, it hasn't gone up in awhile." Wearily Arizona shrugged and rested her head back down on Callie's lap. They both hid their mounting worry well from the other. Arizona could feel fear slowly clutching at her chest, and Callie was confronted with a sense of crushing hopelessness as she was forced to watch Arizona get slowly sicker while she was useless to help her.

The brunette watched as Arizona's eyelids slowly fluttered shut despite her insistence that she wasn't tired anymore. The sound of her hoarse labored breathing only added to Callie's worry and she traced anxious circles on Arizona's wrist as she waited for Arizona's blue eyes to appear again.

Sweat beaded on Arizona's forehead and Callie's eyes switched between Arizona's face at the flashing temperature on the monitor every few seconds. She knew it had to get worse before it could get better and Arizona's temperature was steadily climbing.

Despite the fact that Callie was almost certain that her fever was breaking, Arizona didn't look much better. Her face wore an uncharacteristic grimace, every few minutes she would thrash and shiver in Callie arms.

The medicine in the IV was dangerously low and Callie tried to extricate herself from the mess of blankets and limbs Arizona's shuddering had created, to phone the Chief. Gently laying her girlfriend's head on the pillow Callie grabbed the phone and sat on the edge of Arizona's bed, careful not to disturb her.

"Chief?"

"Dr. Torres, how's Dr. Robbins doing?"

"I think her fever is breaking, but we need another IV sent up here soon."

"Okay, I'll send Bailey up again. It's almost over Torres, if her fever is breaking it'll be only a few more hours until she starts to feel better."

"I hope so," Callie paused as she looked at Arizona lying sleeping in the bed. "How is Hannah sir, and Sam?"

"We got a call about six hours ago about a kidney for Hannah, Bailey just finished a successful transplant and since the surgery she has been asking for Arizona non-stop." Callie laughed weakly, and the Chief continued. "Sam suffered another episode of cardiac arrest, but we brought him back and he undergoing some tests now."

"I'll be sure to tell Arizona, she'll be thrilled about Hannah. Please keep an eye on Sam…"

"Of course Torres, update me again once you start the new meds."

"Yes, sir" Callie finished quietly and hung up the phone.

"Did you hear that Arizona?" She whispered as she maneuvered herself back onto the cramped bed. "Everyone downstairs is okay, now it's our turn. We all get to worry about you. You can't leave us, you can't leave me like this, okay Ari? So you need to wake up soon, and get better."

The blonde didn't respond, she twisted uncomfortably in her sleep and Callie wearily rested her head on Arizona's shoulder. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks and Callie fought off the urge to break down sobbing as she watched Arizona sleep, not knowing if she was going to wake up again. She couldn't control the flood or emotion, fear and exhaustion that engulfed her and tears dripped down her face and landed silently on Arizona's hair.

"You need to come back, this has to be your fever breaking, it has to be." Callie murmured at Arizona's unresponsive form and her hope drained slightly as her girlfriend remained silent.

"You have to survive this." The tears were uncontrollable now and with her face buried in Arizona's hair Callie broke down. "Sam's going to go off to space camp in California eventually, just like he told you he would. Hannah is going to have a chance to grow up and have a childhood outside of this hospital thanks to the care you gave her. Ari, who's going to save all the sick kids when they come into the hospital? Who's going to play Crazy Eights and Hide and Seek with them when all the residents won't because they are too busy fighting for solo surgeries? Who else puts fairy dust in their patient's IV bags and skates around the hospital showing us messed up surgeons the 'joy' of what we do? And me… Arizona, you found me, you took the time to put screwed up me back together. Now, who do I go to when I'm so upset or scared I can't even think straight, when the world is falling apart around me you put everything back exactly where it's supposed to be… dark, cynical me is even a little bit optimistic because of you, so you better not mess me up for good. I didn't even freaking get to tell you, I love you…So come back to me"

* * *

**A/N: Reviews are loved, it really means a lot when you guys take the time to comment and tell me what you think :D**

**Next chapter is mainly Callie dealing with her emotions while Arizona goes through the worst of her illness, so basically a chapter of angst. It'll be up sometime this week I have no idea when but probably before Christmas...**

** happy holidays to everyone who celebrates :)**


	7. I'm not letting you go

**A/N: This chapter is less angsty than I planned, but I hope you enjoy it.**

**Huge thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, I'm sorry I made you wait so long for an update. :) And thanks to CalzonaMoJofan for beta'ing, even though it was the holidays. The next chapter of Pictures of You will be up tomorrow, I think/hope**.

* * *

Arizona had nestled herself against Callie's chest as she slept, her breathing was shallow as air rasped unsteadily in and out of her lungs. The brunette's eyes rarely left Arizona's face except to occasionally check the rising temperature reading on the monitor. Every so often Callie would run her fingers through Arizona's hair or trace a lazy pattern across Arizona's jaw. Despite her ostensibly calm demeanor, inside Callie's head worried thoughts whirled through her brain accompanied by a flood of painful memories.

She remembered their first kiss, the sensation of Arizona's perfect lips on hers. Like a drug, it was a feeling she craved for the next few days until she had found the courage to approach the PEDs surgeon. It was a feeling she continued craving whenever Arizona wasn't with her.

She remembered watching Arizona while leaning against the nurse's desk on the PEDs floor. How attentively she had listened to her patient, a five-year-old girl, instead of dismissing her eager questions. Arizona had then taken out one of the girl's x-rays and showed it to her, explaining what each of bones was called, which ones were broken, and exactly how she was going to fix them. Callie had never seen that before. Most doctors tried to keep themselves detached from their patients, they never talked directly to the children, or explained anything in terms a child would have a hope of understanding, but Arizona helped her long term patients decorate their hospital rooms, kept a wide selection of games in her locker to amuse the younger patients and never seemed to tire of being begged for one last game of Hide and Seek. She cared; it was obvious, except Callie didn't see it as a bad thing. She thought it was amazing.

Random days and moments in the time since her life had collided with Arizona's came back to her. Arizona holding Callie in an on call room after her father had disowned her, the day of Izzie and Alex's wedding when Callie had almost pushed Arizona away for good but the blonde kept coming back. Of course the night following the wedding, _their _night, stuck out in her mind also. The days after, when they had spent every waking moment getting to know everything about the other. Arizona had told Callie about her nightmares, how during the night the tiny coffins of the patients she couldn't save sometimes haunted her. In turn Callie had told her about George and her drunken Vegas wedding, about Erica and even about Mark who had pulled her through all the hectic events of the past year. Even after hearing how messed up Callie was Arizona didn't flinch, or run away screaming as Callie had half expected her to do. She had just flashed Callie her signature grin, and with her dimples on full display assured Callie that she was different from her cheating ex-husband and the blonde who broke her heart.

Clinging to Arizona, Callie had no idea what else she could do. She desperately wanted to take all of Arizona's pain away, to discover some miracle cure that would make Arizona open her beautiful eyes, to let Callie see her smile again. Without Arizona she just felt broken.

It wasn't like when Erica left her. Then she felt angry, betrayed and even a little bit guilty. But how could she be mad at Arizona? She hated that Arizona had seemingly sacrificed her life for one of her patients, but she wouldn't be Arizona if she didn't do selfless things like that. Callie knew that Arizona hadn't betrayed her, as Erica had. It wasn't as if Arizona was simply leaving her. She could drown in the love and concern she found in Arizona's eyes when the blonde looked at her. So she wasn't betrayed, no, she was just left behind.

* * *

Bailey peered through the glass sadly while clutching a replacement IV bag. Callie Torres, someone Bailey had always respected for her 'hardcore' attitude, looked completely lost. Callie was holding Arizona Robbins's sleeping form tightly and the brunette's gaze was fixated on her girlfriend's face. For the most part Bailey had dismissed their relationship as mere On-Call Room sex but seeing the look of painful adoration that was written across Callie's face forced her to reconsider. Maybe there was more to Arizona than Heelys and rainbows. She had already underestimated the surgeon's ability once but as a person she hadn't given Arizona much thought.

But Callie on the other hand was a different matter. Bailey had been there for her drunken wedding to George, she had seen the effect that her intern's cheating had caused on her. She had walked into numerous On Call rooms to see Callie hide under the sheets quickly while Mark looked at her sheepishly. And worst of all she had watched as Callie became robotic and unresponsive in the wake of Erica's departure. For a time she had stopped being what her interns affectionately called 'badass ortho chick' Callie and she had closed herself off from most of her friends preferring to bury herself in work, even Mark noticed it.

Yes, Bailey decided. She was definitely grateful for the appearance of Arizona Robbins, because while the blonde's attitude may be _slightly _annoying, she had broken Callie out of her depressing slump. But what now? Bailey wondered with uncharacteristic dread. Would Arizona come back to the world of the living? The world where the woman who loved her was clinging to her for dear life, or would she disappear, shattering Callie's heart beyond repair in her wake. Bailey shook her head to clear her thoughts and reluctantly raised her hand to the glass, knocking quietly.

* * *

Callie looked up instantly at the soft sound, surprised that a world existed outside of the depressing, cramped room that Arizona and she were trapped in. Not bothering to attempt to dry the tears from her cheeks or to mask the hurt in her eyes, Callie gently raised Arizona's head and readjusted her position on the pillows. Grasping the blanket, Callie pulled it snugly around Arizona and reluctantly tore herself away from her girlfriend's bedside to meet Bailey.

As she opened the door Callie tried to grab the bag from Bailey but the shorter surgeon held it behind her back, out of reach.

"Callie…" Bailey started to speak, trying to be comforting but Callie cut her off, desperation clear in her voice.

"Just give me the bag! I have to get back to her quickly, it's the worst part of her illness. I think her fever is breaking… It has to be breaking, last night it was only 102.1, now it's 103.5 and that's high, right? It's going up too quickly right? So… I need the bag because she needs me right now, and all I want to do is hold her because it could be the last time… I don't want it to be the last time and-"

"Shhh, Callie just breathe okay? Breathe, stop with the rambling and just talk to me."

"Okay, her fever was 102.9 an hour ago," Bailey nodded and Callie continued after taking a deep breath. Concentrating on her work always calmed her down, even though it was Arizona's life she was dealing with, the medicine allowed her to think clearly, rationally. "Now it's up to 103.5…"

"Good, that's good Torres. Her fever is almost certainly breaking, you just need to be with her for the next part. It's going to get worse before it gets better, so be prepared for that. But it looks like she'll pull through this…"

"What can I do for her? For the next part, the hardest part, what does she need me to do, what can I expect?"

"All the usual symptoms, they'll just be intensified. Chills, sweating, aches and pains, but there's nothing you can do. Like I said before, just be with her."

"Thanks Bailey, I just feel so…" She didn't finish her sentence. Finding the words to express that emotion seemed beyond her. Holding out her hand for the bag, Callie grabbed it and quickly headed back into the room. After hooking up the new IV bag, Callie pulled the blanket back and returned to her earlier position as she snaked her arms around Arizona.

Sure enough Arizona started shivering again, tremors wracked her body and Callie continued to hold on to her tightly.

"You're going to be okay, Arizona your going to be fine." Callie murmured in Arizona's ear in a moment of rare stillness. "I know this next part is going to be tough, but fight it. Arizona, you told me you fight dirty so don't give up. You don't surrender your patients until there is no hope left and even then you keep fighting. I'm not letting you go, not now, not ever, so you better keep fighting…" Arizona didn't respond, at least not verbally, but for a few moments her body quieted and she lay still in Callie's arms.

* * *

Everything was getting worse, her muscles ached, her head hurt but through all this she was freezing. Arizona was vaguely aware of someone's arms around her, against her chills they were burning. But she was also vaguely aware of whose arms they were, they were _her_ Calliope's arms so she snuggled deeper into Callie's embrace.

As she shivered she heard Callie mumbling in her ear, but Arizona had absolutely no idea what she was saying. Callie's familiar lilting voice had a calming effect on her muscles. Their tension slowly drained and Arizona was able to relax and dull the pain for just a moment. Through the slightly reduced haze clouding her senses she heard Callie telling her to fight, telling her she was going to be okay. Arizona really tried to believe her, but everything seemed so intense. All the pain from the days before was back, but it was worse, a thousand times worse.

Her body moved seemingly out of her control, she shivered and twisted in Callie's arms but she couldn't make herself stop. Right now Arizona couldn't summon her trademark optimism. With her patients it was easier to believe that they would pull through, but now that she was the patient, experiencing the symptoms for herself it was very different. Arizona thought she might just understand why some of the patients she had, seemed just to give up fighting. Why they wouldn't fight any more even when their parents, relatives and friends begged them. How was she supposed to believe she was getting better, when it felt like she was dying?

But Callie was definitely someone to fight for. The sound of her voice in Arizona's ear, begging her to come back kept Arizona sane through the fever. It was always like that for her. Through all the madness of Seattle Grace, Arizona felt she only made it through because Callie was only a page away. At the press of a few buttons she could be safe in her girlfriend's arms, so she fixed that thought in her mind every time she said goodbye to Callie and headed off to work. And now Arizona focused on Callie who was right beside her, waiting for her, and fought.

* * *

She wouldn't have noticed the time passing except the sunlight streaming in through the window alerted her that a new day had begun. Wearily Callie ran her fingers through her hair, she hadn't slept at all during the night. Arizona still hadn't woken up, but her fever had begun to slowly drop in the last few hours.

Staring down at Arizona's face, Callie was happy to see that she looked peaceful, like maybe the worst had finally passed. _If she would only just open her eyes!_ Callie thought tiredly. Then she could stop worrying, she wouldn't have to listen anxiously to the monitor's incessant beeping and she wouldn't have to be afraid that any passing minute her world could crash down around her.

Two days, it had been almost two days since the worst stage of Arizona's illness began. Callie was exhausted, not physically. She would gladly stay up for days and days watching Arizona's face waiting for her to wake up, but emotionally she was drained. All the worrying, agonizing, waiting and watching had taken a huge toll on her and Callie just wanted it all to be over. Her girlfriend's breathing had slowly steadied and her fever was only 101.5. Callie was fully aware that Arizona would need a lot of time to recover but if she could just get through this part…

"C'mon Ari, just wake up… I love you so wake up and let me tell you everyday for… forever, but you _need _to wake up."

"I…L-love….You….T-too…" Callie eyes widened and her gaze jolted back to Arizona's face. The blonde's eyes still weren't open but she was grinning slightly, her dimples barely evident.

"You're awake? Arizona… Open your eyes, please!" She clutched at Arizona shoulders and waited. Slowly the blonde's eyelids fluttered open and her stunning blue eyes came into view. Pulling Arizona into a tight hug Callie buried her face against Arizona's shoulder. She collapsed. Letting all the pain and fear from the past two days rush out of her she sobbed into Arizona's hair.

"Calliope. What's wrong?" The sound of Arizona's weak voice caused Callie to pull away. Keeping herself as close to Arizona as possible without crushing her, Callie looked happily into Arizona eyes.

"You're awake. The worst is finally passed. For almost two days I've been waiting to see your eyes again and… And I love you and you're awake..." Arizona grinned faintly and snuggled down against Callie.

"I love you too," she repeated softly her eyes brimming with a mixture of love and gratitude toward her wonderful girlfriend who had waited for her, and held her protectively through her entire illness. It was Callie who had really saved her life, Arizona couldn't imagine going through that alone. "I really do," she continued softly. "Thank you, for staying with me. For holding me even when you couldn't have gotten sick and died yourself."

"Ari, seriously I will _always _be there when you need me, even when you don't ask." Callie laughed, "even when you yell at me, telling me to go away like you did six days ago. But it's all over now and for once everyone survived, it's rare in a hospital, but everyone's fine. Sam, Hannah, you and even me. Soon we'll get out of here and we can go back to normal. I can go to sleep without being afraid that you won't wake up again, I won't have to worry about never seeing you smile again…"

"How much longer until we can have all of that?"

"You're going to need to recover for a week at least, but I bet we can be moved out of this room, and I can get out of my hazmat suit in a day or two…"

"You'll stay with me?"

"Of course."

* * *

**A/N: Soooo, I hope you liked this update, it was too depressing to keep Arizona comatose for much longer, but her illness might not be over... :) Anyway I could write one more chapter to wrap the story up, or a two or three more about Arizona's recovery... You choose :D**

**Happy New Year! Whoot 2010!**


	8. Did You Miss Me?

**A/N: Hey peoples :) Sorry for my absurdly long absence. I've been updating Pictures of You mostly, but I finally finished this chapter so... Yay.**

**Thanks so much to the people who reviewed last chapter, seriously you guys are awesome. :) Annnd, thanks to CalzonaMoJofan for beta'ing once again and giving me good advice about Owen. I tried to change his phrasing and the way he sounded to make him less soft, but he is annoyingly hard to write…**

**I have decided (that sounds official,) that there's going to be two more chapters with Arizona's recovery and getting back to work etc. Hope you guys enjoy :)**

* * *

Cristina wasn't usually a compassionate person, sure she had her moments but with her patients she kept herself carefully closed off. She went to work, did her job, and on most days she was better than any other resident at the hospital. Normally she was perfect, textbook. Right now that's what was killing her…

Owen watched with amusement as Cristina paced up and down the apartment, apparently deep in thought.

"How could I not see it?" The brunette ran her fingers quickly through her hair as she thought. "It was right in front of me the entire time!"

"Cristina, what on earth are you talking about, did something bad happen in surgery?" He studied her carefully. Cristina never acted like this, second-guessing herself. She was way too confident.

"Mcperky! The disease, this entire ordeal I should've seen it when Arizona asked me to examine the kid. But no! I was all busy being cold towards Mcperky because she kicked me off of her service. I took his temperature, I should've seen the swollen lymph nodes… I…" Christina stopped pacing and her hands dropped to her sides.

"You mean this whole plaque business? Cristina… You got a 911 page, everyone makes mistakes, overlooks things sometimes. You can't blame yourself for this."

"No. Not me, I'm the best I never make mistakes…" She paused, "at least not medical ones." Cristina moved to sit next to Owen on the couch and he tentatively wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders. "I should've seen it. If I had done a proper un-rushed examination I would have seen it… What am I supposed to do? Callie's going to kill me." Owen laughed and gently kissed the top of her head.

"We all make mistakes, no matter how practiced or studied up you are. Granted you probably weren't thrilled to be on Arizona's service but you got a 911 page, it's not your fault." He paused thoughtfully, "you really should tell this to Arizona, not me."

"Huh?"

"You know, tell her you're sorry. Even if it wasn't your fault, which it wasn't, you could still apologize. She probably wouldn't mind some visitors…" Owen reasoned and Christina's eyes narrowed.

"Apologize?" Owen nodded, enjoying the confusion he saw in her eyes. "I don't do that…"

"Even for your roommate? You won't go visit Callie and her recovering girlfriend?" He asked slightly teasingly. Cristina sighed in annoyance, trying to hide that fact she thought maybe, that was a good idea…

"Maybe," she muttered under her breath.

* * *

"Bailey!" Arizona whined as the shorter surgeon insisted on re-checking her vitals and making sure she was plague free. "I feel fine! Gosh, just let me out of this bed!"

"Arizona!" Bailey exclaimed in annoyance, her tone betraying her exasperation. "The second I'm done here Callie is going to rush in, and she is finally out of her Hazmat suit. How would you feel if you gave her the plague?" The blonde pouted and reluctantly allowed Bailey to take her temperature again.

"All done?" Arizona asked hopefully as Bailey read the temperature. She rolled her eyes and flopped back down against the pillows. "Seriously I'm fine!"

"You're officially plague free," Bailey said sarcastically as Arizona squealed happily before starting to cough. In response Arizona grinned sheepishly but Bailey frowned.

"And you're on strict bed rest for a week. You can go home to your apartment to rest tomorrow, but by bed rest I mean actual rest not you and Torres' dirty activities."

Arizona nodded absent mindedly as she eagerly watched the door, waiting for Callie. "You're sure Bailey, I mean I won't give her the plague?"

"I'll go tell her it's okay to come in," Arizona nodded again still staring at the door.

A few moments later Callie burst into the room with a huge smile on her face. "You're cured?" She asked as she sat down on the bed next to Arizona. Callie didn't wait for an answer to her question; rather she pulled Arizona in a tight hug and buried her face in Arizona's hair.

"I am now," the blonde laughed and she felt Callie's lips twist up into a smile against the skin of her neck.

"Very cheesy," Callie responded before placing a light kiss on Arizona's lips. "But cute," she added. The brunette leaned away from Arizona for an instant, scrutinizing the blonde's face carefully. "You're okay, I mean really…" Callie's tone had turned slightly serious causing Arizona to frown.

"Calliope, Bailey says I'm fine and she checked for every possible lingering symptom you could imagine about five times. I'm fine."

"Sorry," Callie flashed Arizona a rueful smile. "It's just, what happened was terrifying. For a while it didn't look like you were going to make it and all I could do was just sit there…that feeling scared the crap out of me." Arizona nodded, her blue eyes searching Callie's brown ones for a hint of the happiness she had seen only moments before. "This is the first time in six days I've actually been able to feel you… Your skin, your hair, your lips. You know without the Hazmat suit an all."

"Hey," Arizona shuffled closer to Callie and touched her girlfriend's cheek gently, forcing Callie to meet her gaze. "See, I'm fine. A few days ago, maybe not so much. It was awful, we were trapped, I could barely move, but every time I woke up and felt that you were still there it got a little better. I came back and we made it, things always get better…" To Arizona's surprise Callie laughed softly.

"That's what I will never understand,"

Arizona looked at Callie with confusion, she was still laughing. "What?"

"How on earth, after all of that, are you still optimistic?"

"Oh," the blonde's lips twisted into a delighted grin. "I guess it's my patients, they rub off on me."

"I really hope eighty year-old men who need hip replacements don't rub off on me," Callie said jokingly. After the last week, talking and laughing like this was unfamiliar to Callie who had spent a majority of that week on the verge of tears or terrified out of her mind. But, both women enjoyed the first bits of peace, hopeful that everything would just finally be over and all the worrying would cease.

* * *

"Cristina… Just go in the room" Owen urged. They both stood in the hallway looking in at Arizona and Callie who were crushed together on the bed laughing and whispering to each other.

"I can't, there's so much happiness in there, I might vomit." Cristina responded sarcastically and tried to turn around but Owen held her shoulders firmly.

"She's your roommate, you going go visit her. It's the nice thing to do, anyway last night you said you wanted to," he reminded her and a scowl appeared on her face.

"I will not apologize," she said resolutely before reaching for the door handle.

"Just go see them," Owen gave her a small push foreword and Cristina stumbled into the room. Arizona and Callie looked up at the intrusion but they both smiled when they saw Cristina and Owen enter the room.

"Hey Cristina, Owen" Arizona smiled happily at her very unhappy looking visitors apparently their recent argument couldn't dampen her mood.

"Hey Dr. Robbins" Cristina muttered awkwardly, "hi Callie."

"What's up Cristina?" Callie asked, "you're okay right, I mean you were exposed to the illness as well." The brunette looked over her nervous roommate carefully, trying to see any signs of illness. Cristina shook her head.

"Uhh, no. They kept me quarantined there for about two days but I didn't catch it."

"Any exciting cases in the past week?" Arizona asked, sensing Cristina's anxiousness. If there was one thing Cristina did like to talk about it was surgeries, lots of long, complicated, exhausting surgeries.

Cristina brightened visibly and Arizona hid a small smile while listening to Cristina launch into a long history of a patient who had come into the ER after fainting during a bike race. Apparently Cristina had gotten to scrub in when they needed to surgically remove a tumor from the man's chest.

"Interesting," Callie muttered sarcastically although she was slightly envious. She hadn't gotten to cut someone open in almost seven days, and for a surgeon that was a long time to go without a scalpel.

"Anyway, I ummm. I'm glad your better." Cristina added and she felt Owen give her shoulders a comforting squeeze. "I'm uh, sorry about everything…" At Arizona's look of confusion Cristina kept mumbling. "You know, I was on your service and I should have recognized his symptoms.

Arizona's eyes widened, "Oh… Cristina." The blonde was surprised, this wasn't what she had expected from Cristina's visit and it was very out of character for the normally detached resident. "You got a 911 page you know, and even I thought it was the chicken pox for a while…" Arizona stuttered uncertainly. "Even if I knew what it was, I would have stayed with him. It's not your fault."

"If I had seen it, like I should have you could have gotten a Hazmat suit on sooner or something." Cristina protested and Callie realized her mouth had been hanging open the entire time. Her roommate was never apologetic, was she annoying? Hell yes, apologetic? No.

"There is nothing anyone could have done, these things happen," Cristina opened her mouth to tell Arizona that getting the plague really doesn't just happen but Arizona kept going. "Seriously Cristina, I was annoyed at you for using me to get though the merger, but this? You couldn't control this… I would have stayed anyway."

"Thanks," muttered Cristina, another word that didn't come out of her mouth very often. "Well, I'm glad your better…" She finished with a quick nod and practically shoved Owen out of the door.

"Wow…" Callie murmured, "That was… different…"

"I can't believe she blamed herself," Arizona said regretfully. "I mean, I made a choice to stay with him it couldn't possibly be her fault that I caught a disease I was practically asking for…"

"That was probably the first time I have ever heard the words 'I'm sorry' come out of Cristina's mouth…" Callie muttered incredulously.

Arizona shoved Callie gently, "you're awful you know that?" She asked while grinning.

"Seriously, she trashes our apartment and she and Meredith drink all of my tequila. I'm allowed be somewhat teasing of my roommate."

"I guess I misjudged her," Arizona said thoughtfully sending Callie into a fit of laughter.

"Sure Ari, you just wait until one of your precious patients needs heart surgery she'll be back to her old self."

Arizona looked doubtful and Callie let the subject drop. The blonde pulled Callie up beside her on the bed and she molded her body against her girlfriend's. Calliope ran her fingers gently through Arizona's blonde curls and intermittently leaned down to press her lips against Arizona's.

"I missed you," Callie admitted into the skin on Arizona's neck before trailing kisses along her jawline. Arizona twisted around to look at Callie, she noticed that her girlfriend was blushing slightly.

"I love you, you know that?" Arizona responded, reveling in the feeling of the words leaving her lips.

"Love you too." A peaceful, relieved expression settled on Callie's face as she pulled Arizona closer her her. "So much..."

* * *

Mark stood silently outside of the glass-walled room, observing the scene in front of him.

He had just finished his shift in ER and it was just past midnight but Mark had decided to stop by to see if Callie was going to head home to her apartment tonight. It didn't look like she was going to…

Somehow the couple had managed to squeeze themselves into the small hospital bed together and Callie had her head buried against Arizona's chest as her arms wrapped protectively around her girlfriend. The blonde had nestled herself into Callie's embrace and they had dozed off, their arms and legs tangled together.

Normally Mark would have made one of his lewd jokes about girls sleeping together but for once none came to mind. Well, actually he was Mark so things did come into his mind he just didn't _say _them.

Callie looked happy, content even, curled up with Arizona without having to worry that her girlfriend might not wake up again was such a relief for her that it felt like she could sleep for days. Callie shifted slightly in her sleep and pulled Arizona closer as Mark turned to leave. She was his best friend and after the mess George and Erica had created he just wanted to see her find someone who wouldn't ruin her. It seems like she had…

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**A/N: Sooo two more chapters, I hope you guys stick around :) Anyway, tell me what you thought/any suggestions for the last two chapters?**


	9. Visitors

**A/N: Okay my lovely readers :D This chapter isn't Beta'd yet but I felt kind of bad for making you guys wait so long so I posted it anyway. I'll replace it with the Beta'd version in a few days but keep that in mind when reading:)**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews last chapter, I really hope you like this chapter... It's a bit more.. Ehh... Fluffy than normal for this fic.**

**So you guys have some choices for the last chapter, I have a few things in mind about how to end it but what would you guys like to see in the last chapter?**

**A) One last chapter of Epic fluff :D (Beware, when I write fluff it's almost disgustingly cheesy) **

**B) Give Callie the plague Bwahahahahaha**

**C) Have Arizona and Callie return to work, skipping Arizona's week off from the hospital. (Or I could write a bit about it, kind of like a fast-foreward).**

**D) Have Sam get sick again... (That's depressing).**

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**P.S: I kept getting some uploading error so I'm not sure if this content is screwed up.. 0.o**

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Arizona bounced up and down slightly on the bed, her fingers twisting anxiously in the hospital blankets. _Where was she?_ Calliope had left a half an hour ago to sign the discharge papers and get a couple of things from Arizona's locker before they headed back to Calliope's apartment. Despite Arizona's annoyed insistence that she was _fine, _Bailey had prescribed her mandatory 'bed rest,' but she was going to let Arizona leave the hospital this afternoon. That is, if Callie ever returned.

Another few minutes passed slowly on the clock. The mechanic ticking noise that sounded every time the second hand inched closer to the number twelve was beginning to aggravate her and Arizona found herself missing the rhythmic beating of her heart monitor. However, as the second had inched past the number five, Arizona heard Calliope's familiar laugh echo down the hall. Finally… She sat up straighter, craning her neck to see Callie approaching from down the hall.

"Hey Ari, I brought a visitor" Callie said as she pushed open the glass door. Her hands rested on the handles of a wheelchair and from the chair, Sam looked excitedly up at Arizona.

"Dr. Robbins!" He exclaimed happily and Arizona's lips twisted up into a smile.

"Sam, how are you doing? You're all better now?" She almost didn't recognize him. The Sam she had met had been struggling for his life, he seemed to be a ghost of the little boy here before her. Arizona was glad to see that his eyes were bright and inquisitive, not dulled by fever or pain and that the feverish chills she had finished attacking his small frame. He had been forced to grow up way too fast, no child should have to worry about dying, it should be all about playgrounds, games and never ending curiosity, not fear.

But, something Arizona had learned during her time in PEDs is that children are resilient. They forgive and forget most things effortlessly if given the chance. Most days she fought to give children that chance.

"Yeah, the doctors said I had an… Electric blood thingy," he stumbled over the words but, continued nonplussed. "But they gave me some medicine so I'm fine now," Sam explained eagerly.

"An electrolyte imbalance?" Arizona asked with amusement and Sam nodded. The blonde shot a worried glance over Sam's head at Callie but her girlfriend shook her head slightly at Arizona's inquiry. He was going to be fine, as soon as they found the cause of the arrhythmia's it had been an easy treatment process.

"Are you all better too?" Sam asked, oblivious to Arizona's concern. "When I left, you didn't look so good…" His hazel eyes traveled worriedly over her face before his smile returned and he realized she wasn't sick anymore. Arizona was touched that Sam had actually wanted to come see her and she grinned down at him reassuringly.

"I'm fine. Plague free, _totally_," Arizona emphasized the last word and she saw a faint smirk appear on Callie's face. "So… When do you get to get out of here Sam?"

"Doctor Bailey, said I could leave in a couple of days. She told something about wanting to 'observe' me for a few more days or something… She's super nice," he added. "But sometimes this other doctor, comes in to check on my heart. I think her name is Yang," Callie stifled a laugh and Arizona glared at her. "She's kind of scary," Sam admitted, and Callie abandoned any attempt to smother her laughter.

"Yeah, she's just… Like that." Callie laughed again, at Arizona's expression Callie quickly added. "But she's a great doctor, the best…" Apparently the blonde had revised her opinion of Christina after her rather... uncharacteristic apology.

As Arizona inquired about Sam's father, Bailey appeared at the door. "Robbins, why haven't you left yet? I thought you couldn't wait to get out of here," Bailey scoffed and shuffled a mass of papers in her arms. Her gaze strayed to the wheelchair and the small figure sitting in it. "Sam? What are you doing here…"

"Callie came to visit me and she told me I could come visit Dr. Robbins if I wanted to," he grinned happily up at Dr. Bailey who smiled back at him but quickly turned to frown at Callie.

"Torres, did you check with the nurse before bringing Sam up here?" Bailey eyed Callie with her signature glare and the brunette began to look slightly guilty under Bailey's infamous stare.

Callie quickly became flustered, and she turned to leave, flashing Arizona an apologetic smile. "Uhhh, we're going to go now…" She muttered avoiding answering Bailey's question.

The shorter surgeon glared, "I'll take that as a no. You'd better hope that Little Grey, who I sent down to check on him, isn't having a panic attack right now about a missing patient."

"I'll be back in a minute," Callie said over her shoulder as she pushed Sam down the hall away from a glaring Bailey.

"Bye Dr. Robbins," Sam yelled she as Callie practically sprinted toward the elevator. Knowing Little Grey, she definitely was in danger of having a panic attack.

* * *

"No way!" Arizona exclaimed, jutting her lower lip out in a pout and crossing her arms over her chest. "There is absolutely no way Calliope…" Callie smirked and pushed the wheelchair foreword in front of Arizona.

"It's hospital procedure, until we get to the car all patients from the ICU use the wheelchairs… I guess it's to protect the hospital from lawsuits or something… Anyway hop in," the brunette grinned at Arizona who shook her head.

"You know what?" Arizona tugged the blanket up around her again and settled herself back down against the pillows. "I think I'll just stay here." Brushing a stay hair away from her face, Arizona looked defiantly up at Callie's who seemed to think the entire ordeal was actually quite funny.

"You'd rather stay here with," Callie wrinkled her nose playfully. "Scratchy hospital sheets and antiseptic smells? Even with the _huge _bed back at the apartment?" She asked teasingly and Arizona groaned.

"It's completely unnecessary Calliope. If I promise not to sue the hospital in case I trip over my own feet can I just walk?" The brunette shook her head.

"Nope," she reached over and yanked the blankets off the hospital bed, eliciting another complaint from Arizona. "I mean you could stay here, with Bailey, Christina. Ohh, I could get Mark to come keep you company…"

Muttering under her breath about 'stupid, unnecessary, useless wheelchairs,' Arizona shot Callie a murderous glance and slowly lowered herself into the chair. "I really should hate you for this," she grumbled.

Callie bent down and placed a light kiss on Arizona's forehead before wheeling her out of the room. "But you don't, you love me…" Callie said smugly as she pushed the button on the elevator doors. A small smile graced Arizona's lips before she disguised it as a mock frown.

"After this wheelchair incident? Not so much," Callie just laughed, wheeling Arizona into the elevator.

As the metal doors slid open, one floor away from the exit, Mark appeared in the doorway with Lexie. A huge grin spread across his face as he took in the sight of Arizona sitting unhappily confined in a wheelchair.

"Looking good blondie," Mark teasingly remarked as he and Lexie entered the elevator. "Nice ride…"

"Hey Callie, Dr. Robbins…" Lexie said tentatively as she could sense the PEDs surgeon wasn't exactly at her perkiest. Resting her hand comfortingly on Arizona's shoulder Callie smirked as she saw Arizona desperately trying to ignore Mark's sarcastic comments and blushing furiously.

After what seemed like an eternity in the elevator, passed in complete silence except for a few joking comments from Mark, the doors slid open to reveal a bustling lobby.

"Well, I'm off to find Karev." Mark said as he waved to the couple and kissed Lexie goodbye. "He practically begged to get in on the facial reconstruction I'm doing this afternoon. Try not to break any bones getting from here to the car Robbins," he called cheerily as he walked away.

"Bye," Lexie mumbled nervously as she dashed off toward the nurses desk where a very annoyed Christina was waiting.

Navigating the crowded lobby proved to be a bit of a challenge while pushing a wheelchair but Callie managed to get both of them outside without injuring anyone.

"There," she gripped Arizona's arm and helped her into the car. "That wasn't so bad was it?"

"That's debatable, I almost punched Mark in the elevator." Arizona tugged her coat tightly around her shoulders as Seattle's typical stormy weather whipped around her. "Anyway, why are we driving, your apartment is right across the street?"

"Bailey's orders… The chief gave me the next two days off so I can wait on your hand and foot over the next couple of days."

"So, I can demand foot massages, specially cooked meals and ice cream runs at all hours of the night?" Arizona asked teasingly.

"Whatever you want," Callie smirked and pressed her lips lightly against Arizona's before motioning to the wheelchair. "I have to go take this back to the hospital. I'll be right back…"

Arizona nodded before leaning back against the seat and sighing contentedly. Recovery didn't sound so bad after all.

* * *

"So which movie are we watching?" Arizona called down the hall to were Callie was doing the dishes. She had offered to help but Callie had insisted that Arizona relax and had sent her into the living room to pick out a movie. Toying with a stray thread on the waistband of her pajama pants Arizona flipped the movie cases over.

"You choose," Callie answered and Arizona heard the sound of plates of plates being stacked up in the cupboard. She had seen both of the movies before, actually she was pretty sure these were the DVDs she had brought to Callie's apartment a few weeks ago. Looking up from the cases in her hands Arizona scrutinized the living room.

A pleasant feeling overwhelmed her as she realized that her stuff was everywhere… Well, not exactly everywhere Christina's clothes and surgery textbooks littered most of the surfaces available where items could be stacked, but in the small spaces left Arizona noticed small objects scattered around the room that she had brought to Callie's apartment.

About a month and a half ago Callie had cleared out a drawer for her, more out of necessity that anything else although Arizona enjoyed the gesture. She had grown tired to rushing back to her apartment in the morning for a change of clothes and now her wardrobe had taken over half of Callie's closet and a good three drawers.

On the coffee table in front of her, next to Christina's heavily bookmarked copy of 'Cardiothoracic Surgery: Tips and Techniques," sat a picture of her and Callie that Arizona had given to Callie over Christmas two weeks ago. Yes Arizona concluded, her stuff _was_ everywhere and the moment Bailey had told she could return home she had thought of Callie's apartment. She liked that feeling...

"So, which movie?" Callie appeared in the doorway, breaking Arizona out of her thoughts.

"This one," Arizona smiled at Callie as she let her happiness from her discovery seep into her expression. Randomly she held out a hand and tossed Callie's the movie she had chosen.

"Really, you want to watch Wall-E?" Opening the case, Callie gently took the disc out and put it into the DVD player. Arizona shrugged, but Callie grinned and sat down on the couch, gesturing for Arizona to sit down.

The blonde snuggled against Callie and she felt her girlfriends arms snake around her waist as the opening credits began to play,

"I'm just warning you, I will cry at the end of this movie." Arizona said playfully as she nestled her head against Callie's chest. The brunette laughed,

"I know, we watched this movie like two weeks ago and by the end of it you were bawling. I don't really get why, but it was adorable," Callie grinned down at Arizona who pretended to be offended.

"How can you not cry at the end of this movie… The robot finds love!"

Callie laughed again and rested her head against Arizona's. "At least I get to be the one to comfort you when absurdly cheery Disney movies make you cry…"

Yeah, recovery definitely wasn't a bad thing at all.

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A/N: One more chapter... I have a bit of break with the end of exams so I have lots of time to write this weekend :D

Please, please, please review :)


	10. The Beginning of the End

**A/N: Hello lovely readers :D**

**This feels weird, the last chapter... O.0**

**So here it is, the last chapter of Quarantined. I hope you enjoyed reading it. I loved writing it for you guys…**

**It's a mix of fluffiness and Arizona's return to work, so enjoy...**

**P.S. Large amounts of Italics=flashback**

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Arizona's fingers drummed impatiently on the remote she held in her hand. After flipping through the TV channels for what seemed like hours she let out an annoyed sigh and tossed the remote onto the sofa.

She had been stuck in the apartment for three days. Normally she loved having days off and the past two days had been heaven as she enjoyed having Calliope all to herself without the annoying beep of pagers. But this morning Calliope had been called into the hospital for a eight-hour shift and Arizona was still relegated to the apartment on Bailey's orders of 'Bed Rest.'

Even though she had looked foreword to a quiet day by herself, well she looked forward to a quiet day; Arizona didn't much appreciate the _alone _part, she had found out quickly that in the long hours without a scalpel or some other distraction she was easily bored. Arizona hated to admit it but she did miss the feel of the scalpel in her hand. Not in the cutting-hungry way that Christina did, but she missed seeing the joy on the faces of parents when their children were saved because of her surgical talents.

Another sigh escaped her lips as she glanced almost angrily at the clock, blaming it for ticking too slowly and keeping Calliope at the hospital. Her scowl faded away almost instantly when she realized that it was six. Calliope should be home any minute.

Sure enough the jangle of keys outside of the apartment and the muttered Spanish curse that followed a loud thump in the hallway signaled the arrival of her girlfriend. After another few seconds of noise Callie managed to jam the right key in the lock and push the door open.

As soon as Callie made her way through the door a pair of warm arms snaked around her waist and Arizona's familiar lips crushed eagerly against her own.

"Uhh, Hi…" Callie murmured with a bemused smirk on her face as the couple broke for air.

"Hi," Arizona responded as she pulled Callie's lips against her again. "I missed you today," she mumbled in between kisses. Arizona hooked her fingers in the belt loops of Callie's jeans and pulled the brunette's body tightly against her own. The brunette let out a moan before pulling away.

"As much as I would _love," _Callie brushed her lips lightly against Arizona'sbefore continuing. "To finish this, I us brought dinner and I think it's getting cold…" She held up a bag with the logo of Arizona's favorite Chinese restaurant on the side and a small grin graced the blonde's lips as she grabbed the bag.

"I bet it tastes better cold," Arizona muttered and Callie's eyes widened in surprise as the blonde placed the bag lightly on the counter before pulling Callie's lips against her own again.

Callie groaned and tangled her fingers in Arizona's blonde curls, "I think you are definitely right…"

* * *

A few hours later as Callie clutched at her chopsticks inexpertly and tried to stab her chow mein into submission Arizona laughed. She always found Callie's attempts to eat Chinese food with the provided chopsticks hilarious especially since Callie refused point blank to use a fork.

"You know-" Arizona was about to teasingly offer Callie some other form of eating utensil but the brunette interrupted her.

"Hold on Ari," Callie's brow furrowed and she started intently down into her bowl of noodles. Slowly she managed to balance two or three noodles on her chopsticks and maneuvered them into her mouth. "See? How awesome am I?" Callie grinned proudly but her happy expression soon turned into a scowl as Arizona spoke.

"You still have about a hundred more of those to go Cal, just let me show you how to use them correctly…"

"I know how," Callie demonstrated this by maneuvering a solitary noodle onto her chopstick and into her mouth. "See?"

Arizona giggled and Callie looked despairingly down into her down at the sizeable pile of noodles remaining. "Okay, I guess, maybe you could show me how…"

"Okay, so first you don't hold them like that… Like this see?" Arizona demonstrated and Callie tried to imitate Arizona's fingers.

"You know what? I think you're enjoying this…" Callie muttered as she tried to open and close the chopsticks in her hand, not succeeding at all but dropping both of them in the process.

The blonde laughed and grabbed Callie's chopsticks away from her, "maybe a little…" Arizona admitted with a smile as she expertly grabbed a piece of chicken with her chopsticks and held it out to Callie. "Here."

The brunette leaned foreword and with a defeated grumble nibbled the chicken that Arizona offered. Callie pushed her bowl of noodles toward Arizona, and gestured to the chopsticks Arizona held in her hand. "Since you're like the chopstick… police or something you can feed me the rest of these…" She grinned wickedly as Arizona looked down at the bowl. But her grin faded into a look of amazement as Arizona deftly picked up a few noodles and put them in her mouth.

"How did you do that?" She asked incredulously.

"I have many hidden talents," Arizona said teasingly before reaching over and handing Callie a fork. "Unfortunately since you can't match my chopstick awesomeness, you have to use one of these…"

Callie eyed the fork with distaste, "I'll just stick with you know, my earlier method…" She began to balance noodles haphazardly on her two chopsticks again.

"Seriously?" Callie nodded resolutely and concentrated on her chopstick antics. "You're actually kind of cute when you do that," Arizona added and Callie looked up instantly, dropping her noodle.

"Don't you mean badass, cool, or hardcore…" Callie pouted and Arizona giggled.

"Nope, just cute… Well, beautiful actually but you know…" A blush colored Callie's cheeks and she grinned up at Arizona.

"I guess that's a _little _better," after swallowing another noodle she continued. "So, are you ready for work tomorrow?"

Callie had managed to persuade Bailey that since Arizona was feeling fine and she was nowhere near contagious anymore she should be able to return to work a few days early. So, Arizona's shift started tomorrow bright and early at six thirty in the morning. Callie had though Bailey seemed a little too smug when informing her that Arizona's shift began so early but the blonde had shrugged it off.

"I can't wait to see all of my patients again. I actually kind of miss surgery so yeah, I guess I'm ready…" The blonde shrugged and Callie eyed her carefully. She knew Arizona's various expressions well and as much as the blonde was trying to hide it, Callie knew she was nervous.

"Are you worried Ari?" Callie asked quietly and Arizona smile faltered slightly.

"I mean, what if... What if somehow I've forgotten or something..." Arizona dropped her head in embarrassment but Callie reached up and touched her cheek.

"Hey, I don't think it's like that. Surgery..." She struggled to find words as Arizona's wide blue eyes searched her face. "It's like riding a bike.." At Arizona's raised eyebrow Callie quickly continued. "Okay, well that's a bad example but Arizona, you're an amazing surgeon. You'll do great tomorrow, it'll be fine..."

Arizona nodded slowly and she closed her eyes briefly. "Thanks," she murmured gratefully. "I needed to hear that..."

* * *

**(The next day…)**

"Yang what is it? An emergency?" Callie grumbled as she wearily checked her pager monitor. Her annoying roommate had paged her to the front desk in the lobby with a 911…

Christina looked decidedly uncomfortable but she shook her head. "This is not a friend thing okay? I mean I am not doing this as a friend..."

"Whatever Christina, just tell me what it is. I'm supposed to meet Arizona in a couple of minutes…" Callie shot Christina her best death glare but Christina just ignored her.

"She had a really rough surgery Callie. I was watching from the gallery, there was nothing she could have done the girl was just too far gone…"

Callie paled and slipped her pager back into her pocket. "Where is she?"

"She ran off. After telling the parents, I figured you'd know where she was… She looked really upset Cal."

Callie had already turned toward the elevator and was mentally running through all of the places Arizona could possibly be hiding. Maybe an On-Call room, Callie though hurriedly.

"Thanks," she called over her shoulder to Christina as she dashed off. The rather socially challenged surgeon was proving to be not that bad a friend, even in the worst of times.

As she stepped in the elevator Callie was faced with rows and rows of buttons… Which to choose? Then something clicked in her mind and Callie determinedly reached out her hand and chose a button.

* * *

"_You used to live here?" Arizona asked a delighted laugh escaping her lips as Callie stood awkwardly in the middle of the basement._

"_Hey," she defended. "I got all the best traumas and saved a lot of money…" Callie felt a small smile spreading across her face despite herself. "It sounds a little pathetic now… but yeah… I used to live in the basement"_

_Arizona looked around the dim space with something akin to amusement in her eyes._

"_You know with some paint and you know lights, it wouldn't be so bad…" Callie playfully swatted her arm._

"_Stop it, I just shared one of my deepest darkest secrets here…" _

_Arizona smirked as she squinted through the darkness. "Deepest and darkest huh? Literally…" She grinned at her joke before pulled her girlfriend close to her again. "It's actually kind of cool down here. But in a scary, monsters hiding in the darkness kind of way." She shivered and snuggled closer to Callie. "How did you stand it?"_

"_Don't worry,' Callie laughed. "I'll protect you from the big bad basement monsters…"_

_

* * *

_

As she descended the steps into the basement Callie heard the sound of muffled sobs drifting up the stairwell. Callie's heart broke as she recognized the sound. Arizona rarely cried, she preferred to keep all of her emotions kept tightly behind her always-ready smile. But Callie knew better. When Arizona's trademark grin didn't reach her eyes or her laugh was a little bit forced, Callie could always tell even when other people couldn't.

"Ari?" Callie called into the darkness and the sobbing noise stopped suddenly as Callie reached the last step, her voice echoing in the darkness

"Callie?" Arizona's small voice sounded from around the corner of one of the supply shelves. Walking quietly, Callie rounded the corner and stopped short as she saw Arizona's hunched form occupying one of the discarded hospital beds. She was clutching her arms around her waist, trying to hold herself together as tears overwhelmed her.

"Hey," she murmured quietly at her unresponsive girlfriend. Callie moved and sat down onto the bed, gathering Arizona's shuddering form into her arms as she eased herself onto the bed. "I'm here," the brunette placed a light kiss on top of a mass of blonde curls and wrapped her arms tightly around her girlfriend.

Callie didn't push Arizona to talk, she just waited. The blonde's tears slowly soaked the fabric of her navy blue scrubs and Arizona snuggled down into Callie's chest as she cried.

Feeling Callie's warm arms supporting her, holding her close had a calming affect on Arizona. The tears gradually slowed their pathways down her face and the shuddering sobs ceased although the raw hurt inside of her was still there.

"She was five years old." Arizona voice was muffled by Callie's shoulder but her simple statement held so much emotion that Callie had no trouble understanding. Instinctively Callie pulled Arizona closer and the blonde buried her head against Callie's neck and her girlfriend words echoed through her mind.

"There was nothing you could have done for her Arizona, sometimes there never is… Sometimes they're just gone and there is nothing left for them here. I know how much you care about each and every patient that your treating but when there's nothing you can do..." Tear-filled blue eyes met warm brown ones as Arizona gazed up at Callie for a few moments.

"Why? I need to know…" Callie looked down questioningly at Arizona until the blonde continued, her voice unsteady. "Why am I still alive? Why am I still here when she… She had so much life left in front of her, it doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem fair at all."

"You risked your life to save Sam, Arizona. I could tell you all of the medical reasons why your still here with me, but the truth is we don't really know why some people live and some people die. It's never fair. Never feel guilty for the fact you survived. If... If you had died... I don't know what I would've done. And all of your patients, all the children you are going to save in the future, they need you… I need you, so never apologize for living. Don't apologize for staying with me." She tightened her arms around Arizona whose blue eyes had began to fill with tears again.

"But what good is it… I couldn't save her, why do we even do this Calliope. The surgery… I used to believe, I still believe in the medicine but there has to be something…"

'You answered that for me a long time ago," Callie brushed a few tears off of Arizona's cheek with her thumb. "You told me that the joy you feel when you get to deliver good news to a child's parents, when you get to give a child their life back… You told me that it's worth it, all the heartache and the death we see everyday. It's worth it because the people we can save make up for the people we lose. As much as it hurts, you made me see that…"

Arizona nestled her face against Callie's chest again and for a while they just stayed like that. Snuggled together on the old hospital bed…

"Thank you," Arizona murmured after a time. "You always know what to say, where to find me… I love knowing you'll always be there for me, even when I was all contagious…"

"Thank _you," _Callie smiled slightly as she rested her head on top of Arizona's. "For everything; dirty bar bathroom kissing, standing up to my father, helping me through crisis after crisis… Thank you for surviving, most people would have given up but… You've saved me more often than you know…"

Another silence passed between them but it was less uncomfortable this time. Arizona was still hurting and Callie still held her tightly but the tension had eased. The hopelessness Arizona had been feeling was slowly draining out of her as familiar arms supported her. Familiar arms that she knew would always be there to catch her when she fell.

"C'mon… Arizona it's almost six, our shifts are over and I'm taking you home…"

"Home?"

"Yeah," Callie paused as she realized the implication of Arizona's question. This was not how she had planned asking Arizona to move in with her but… "Our home. I mean, if you want it to be…"

A small smile formed on Arizona lips and brightened her tearstained face. "I'd like that, Calliope…" She murmured as her brilliant blue eyes held Callie's brown ones. "I'd love that…"

So they left…

Arizona and Callie. Each regarded the other the reason as the reason they were who they that day, at that moment, walking hand in hand toward their new life.

Because each time, they took small steps foreword. First kiss, the first time Arizona had stayed over, their exchange of house keys… They took baby steps toward what they were sure was a long forever. But now they had all the time in the world to be together…

Sometimes all you need is someone to save you… Sometimes you just need to find that person who will bring you donuts when you're crying or hold you for days when you have the plague.

But it's over now…

The terror, the pain… The fear that the person you love more than anybody else in the world, and the person who loves you just as much, was slipping away in your arms.

They were stronger together because of it. They had found exactly what they needed in each other, and they never planned on letting that disappear. No matter what happened in days, weeks months or years… Right now they were sure of each other and what they shared.

Because sometimes all you need is someone to save you…

THE END

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so that's the end... Thank you so much for sticking with this story until the end, all of you guys are awesomely awesome.**

** It's sad writing the last chapter because I loved writing this fic but I hope you liked reading it. Maybe in a while I'll write a flash foreword or something, but for now that was the end :/**

**P.S. As with the last chapter of Pictures of You this chapter was inspired by the song "Someone to Save You" by OneRepublic...**

**Please comment/review... whatever... for the last time on this story :D**


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